Io lo so che normalmente arrivano prima le recensioni in italiano e poi quelle in inglese quando partecipo ad un blogtour, ma stavolta proprio non ce l'ho fatta.
La verità è che sono esausta e ci ho messo più tempo di quanto avrei voluto per concludere la lettura - non avevo proprio energia e voglia, tanto che l'ho scritta al volo ieri in pausa pranzo anche se avrei voluto tanto dormire almeno mezz'ora considerando che sto letteralmente in piedi dieci ore e mezza al lavoro.
Quindi oggi va così: ora esce quella inglese, quella in italiano arriva venerdì.
First of
all, thanks to NetGalley and Amanda from Algonquin Books for sending
me an eARC in exchange for a honest review. You can also find it on
Goodreads and NetGalley - the Italian one is here.
You have to know English isn’t my first language, so feel free to correct me if I make some mistakes while writing this review.
La verità è che sono esausta e ci ho messo più tempo di quanto avrei voluto per concludere la lettura - non avevo proprio energia e voglia, tanto che l'ho scritta al volo ieri in pausa pranzo anche se avrei voluto tanto dormire almeno mezz'ora considerando che sto letteralmente in piedi dieci ore e mezza al lavoro.
Quindi oggi va così: ora esce quella inglese, quella in italiano arriva venerdì.
You have to know English isn’t my first language, so feel free to correct me if I make some mistakes while writing this review.
Title: Body Talk: 37 Voices Explore Our Radical Anatomy
Author: Kelly Jensen
Publication Date: August 18th 2020
Pages: 256 (Kindle Edition)
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3gvwtuf
Plot: It’s time to bare it all about bodies!
We all experience the world in a body, but we don’t usually take the time to explore what it really means to have and live within one. Just as every person has a unique personality, every person has a unique body, and every body tells its own story.
In Body Talk, thirty-seven writers, models, actors, musicians, and artists share essays, lists, comics, and illustrations—about everything from size and shape to scoliosis, from eating disorders to cancer, from sexuality and gender identity to the use of makeup as armor. Together, they contribute a broad variety of perspectives on what it’s like to live in their particular bodies—and how their bodies have helped to inform who they are and how they move through the world.
Come on in, turn the pages, and join the celebration of our diverse, miraculous, beautiful bodies!
This is an anthology series that I really like - very colorful and above all very curated in all the details.
After the volume on feminism and the one on mental health, now it's the turn of the human body - in all its forms, in all the meanings of sexuality, in all gender identities, in all diseases and problems that are seen and also those that are internal and therefore hidden, but no less important.
There are many experiences of scoliosis, how this impacted the author's life - how surgery sometimes had to be done and how long wearing the back brace has also changed their way of seeing things and increased their self esteem.
We read about dwarfism, about how the concept of "normality" often leads some people to ask too much from their body - only to realize that the concept of normality is relative.
We read about disability in general, about the barriers that these people sometimes face and that are real obstacles in their every day life.We read deafness and neuro-degenerative diseases, of how often people are rude and wonder how it's possible for these people to have a "normal" life.We read about dental care and how it's not accessible to everyone - especially immigrants.
We read about facial hair, endometriosis, poly-cystic ovary, a misshapen uterus, testicular cancer, menstrual cycle.We read about chronic pain which is sometimes not taken seriously even by doctors, we read about invisible diseases and how the person who suffers from it is accused of pretending because he/she/they doesn't/don't look like someone who is sick.We read about lean bodies, fat bodies, trans bodies, gender identity, fat-shaming and how the very concept of "body positivity" has limits and is not able to include everyone.We read about how even the color of the skin is a discriminating factor, of how it's the white and thin cis-gender body that is considered the "normality" - to which marketing is aimed, to which reference is always made, which is considered a goal so people often ruin themselves in order to try to reach it.We read about how the concept of thinness and fatness changes from one culture to another, of asexuality and relationships, of make-up used as armor.
We read about contempt for our own body, acceptance and even love for it.
It's a pity that I read it at a time when I work up to ten and a half hours always standing on my feet and therefore once at home I just want to sleep, because otherwise I would have spent much more time on it in order to absorb every single detail - instead the date set for the review loomed.
I've never had a good relationship with my body - I don't love it, in fact ... I hate it cordially.
All of these testimonies have often been not only sharp and sometimes funny, but above all heartfelt and moving - cathartic, in fact.
It's true that every body is different and each one of it has its own story, but I found myself in those who wrote about how they always wore clothes designed to cover more skin and their own shapes and how makeup can be worn as an armor for gain more self-confidence in themselves and out in the world.
And it's precisely the self-confidence that shines through all these testimonies - obtained despite the pain, insecurity and difficulties - because each one of these bodies has struggled to get to own their place in the world and make their voice heard.
And who knows, maybe after reading it, I will learn how to do like these authors in order to love myself a little more.
This third volume of the anthology, through these 37 entries, not only speaks of the human body - visible and invisible - but also takes up the themes of feminism and mental health addressed in the two previous ones.
This is because the female body is increasingly more subjected to criticism than the male one and because feeling bad in our own body - or having someone who always whispers it in our ear - leads to anxiety and depression.
It's an anthology that really deserves to be read, where its authors lay bare through essays, poems, comics, tips, FAQs, interviews, use and meaning of specific terminology, lists of things to say and not to say when dealing with someone different than us with their own story and experiences.
Do I recommend it? Yes, obviously I do.
Author: Kelly Jensen
Publication Date: August 18th 2020
Pages: 256 (Kindle Edition)
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3gvwtuf
Plot: It’s time to bare it all about bodies!
We all experience the world in a body, but we don’t usually take the time to explore what it really means to have and live within one. Just as every person has a unique personality, every person has a unique body, and every body tells its own story.
In Body Talk, thirty-seven writers, models, actors, musicians, and artists share essays, lists, comics, and illustrations—about everything from size and shape to scoliosis, from eating disorders to cancer, from sexuality and gender identity to the use of makeup as armor. Together, they contribute a broad variety of perspectives on what it’s like to live in their particular bodies—and how their bodies have helped to inform who they are and how they move through the world.
Come on in, turn the pages, and join the celebration of our diverse, miraculous, beautiful bodies!
--- ---
This is an anthology series that I really like - very colorful and above all very curated in all the details.
After the volume on feminism and the one on mental health, now it's the turn of the human body - in all its forms, in all the meanings of sexuality, in all gender identities, in all diseases and problems that are seen and also those that are internal and therefore hidden, but no less important.
There are many experiences of scoliosis, how this impacted the author's life - how surgery sometimes had to be done and how long wearing the back brace has also changed their way of seeing things and increased their self esteem.
We read about dwarfism, about how the concept of "normality" often leads some people to ask too much from their body - only to realize that the concept of normality is relative.
We read about disability in general, about the barriers that these people sometimes face and that are real obstacles in their every day life.We read deafness and neuro-degenerative diseases, of how often people are rude and wonder how it's possible for these people to have a "normal" life.We read about dental care and how it's not accessible to everyone - especially immigrants.
We read about facial hair, endometriosis, poly-cystic ovary, a misshapen uterus, testicular cancer, menstrual cycle.We read about chronic pain which is sometimes not taken seriously even by doctors, we read about invisible diseases and how the person who suffers from it is accused of pretending because he/she/they doesn't/don't look like someone who is sick.We read about lean bodies, fat bodies, trans bodies, gender identity, fat-shaming and how the very concept of "body positivity" has limits and is not able to include everyone.We read about how even the color of the skin is a discriminating factor, of how it's the white and thin cis-gender body that is considered the "normality" - to which marketing is aimed, to which reference is always made, which is considered a goal so people often ruin themselves in order to try to reach it.We read about how the concept of thinness and fatness changes from one culture to another, of asexuality and relationships, of make-up used as armor.
We read about contempt for our own body, acceptance and even love for it.
It's a pity that I read it at a time when I work up to ten and a half hours always standing on my feet and therefore once at home I just want to sleep, because otherwise I would have spent much more time on it in order to absorb every single detail - instead the date set for the review loomed.
I've never had a good relationship with my body - I don't love it, in fact ... I hate it cordially.
All of these testimonies have often been not only sharp and sometimes funny, but above all heartfelt and moving - cathartic, in fact.
It's true that every body is different and each one of it has its own story, but I found myself in those who wrote about how they always wore clothes designed to cover more skin and their own shapes and how makeup can be worn as an armor for gain more self-confidence in themselves and out in the world.
And it's precisely the self-confidence that shines through all these testimonies - obtained despite the pain, insecurity and difficulties - because each one of these bodies has struggled to get to own their place in the world and make their voice heard.
And who knows, maybe after reading it, I will learn how to do like these authors in order to love myself a little more.
This third volume of the anthology, through these 37 entries, not only speaks of the human body - visible and invisible - but also takes up the themes of feminism and mental health addressed in the two previous ones.
This is because the female body is increasingly more subjected to criticism than the male one and because feeling bad in our own body - or having someone who always whispers it in our ear - leads to anxiety and depression.
It's an anthology that really deserves to be read, where its authors lay bare through essays, poems, comics, tips, FAQs, interviews, use and meaning of specific terminology, lists of things to say and not to say when dealing with someone different than us with their own story and experiences.
Do I recommend it? Yes, obviously I do.
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