Icon

September 15, 2014
In this collection commissioned by Scholder, editorial director of the Feminist Press, nine original essays explore the specific and personal impact of cultural icons—public figures, often celebrities, who become the objects of our everyday obsessions. The contributors—artists, musicians, and novelists in their own right—did not first encounter their respective subjects in history class. Most can pinpoint the exact moment when they became enamored with their idols. For novelist Jill Nelson, it was at age 14 in 1967 when she heard Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” booming from an open car window. Mary Gaitskill’s adoration of Linda Lovelace began at age 17 when she viewed Deep Throat at a hippie film co-op. Singer/songwriter Justin Vivian Bond remembers model Karen Graham’s vacant gaze in a decade’s worth of Estee Lauder advertisements. Yet these essays are not solely homages—they also explore the complicated consequences of putting a person on a pedestal. For example, writer and historian Hanne Blank’s obsession with food writer M.F.K. Fisher in college was wracked with jealousy when Blank realized that her favorite food writer had the sort of graceful physique that she herself lacked. These essays reveal the hidden side of adulation and serve as a reminder that even today’s literary lights once had icons of their own.

September 1, 2014
Eight writers reflect on women who fascinate them. "Who do you think about (maybe a little too often), who challenges, inspires, or outrages you? Who are you obsessed with?" These questions inform this collection of essays, edited by Feminist editorial director Scholder (editor: Dr. Rice in the House, 2007, etc.), about famous women whom the writers see as personal icons. As they investigate the women's lives, the essayists reflect on their own identities and what motivates their attractions. Novelist Mary Gaitskill writes about porn artist Linda Lovelace, whose public persona, Gaitskill believes, has been bowdlerized. Herself a victim of a violent rape, Gaitskill feels a visceral understanding of the "hellish combination" of anger and fear that Lovelace is likely to have experienced. "As much as anything," she writes, "her story is about enormous loneliness and the struggle to survive, a condition so much bigger than how she was seen." Writer and gardener Jill Nelson is incredulous that young women today have no idea who Aretha Franklin was-a woman who, for Nelson, embodied "liberated empowerment or broke down heartache, with a sultry dose of lust thrown in." Historian, classical singer and restaurateur Hanne Blank is fascinated by food writer M.F.K. Fisher, who represented "style and self-assurance" and "sensual, unpretentious worldliness." Blank continues: "Calm assertion is nine tenths of authority. Emotion is more potent without melodrama, or even exclamation points." Justin Vivian Bond focuses on supermodel Karen Graham, the advertising face of Estee Lauder, to explore her own identity as "a small-town transperson...sure that what I wanted was to escape into a world of glamour and elegance, taste and refinement." Other contributions include Rick Moody on singer Karen Dalton, musician Johanna Fateman on Andrea Dworkin, and novelist Kate Zambreno on Kathy Acker. Blurring the line between biography and memoir, these essays consider the power of public personalities to illuminate one's deepest sense of self.

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November 1, 2014

In this book of essays, Scholder, editorial director of the Feminist Press, gives readers eight pieces penned by a variety of artists and authors, including Rick Moody, Kate Zambreno, and Johanna Fateman. Each contributor chose their own icon--a public figure to whom ideas and symbols have been attached--on which to write an essay. The subjects take readers from porn star Linda Lovelace to antiporn feminist Andrea Dworkin, and the likes of food writer MFK Fisher and model Karen Graham. Readers also get a fresh look at singer Aretha Franklin, musician Karen Dalton, and writers Kathy Acker and Mary Gaitskill (who is also one of the essayists). Wide ranging and sometimes deeply personal, these essays reveal as much about their authors as they do their subjects and tend to be about more than the icons themselves, touching on issues of identity, victimization, body image, sex, power, feminism, and more. VERDICT Often moving and occasionally funny, this collection has a little of everything. It will most likely appeal to middle-aged feminists, but younger women will find much to enjoy here as well.--Stefanie Hollmichel, Univ. of St. Thomas Law Lib., Minneapolis

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