Hiya book amigos and amigas! We're more than halfway through the frosty month of January, and heading into Valentine's Day in February. Unfortunately, the news is abuzz with Neil Gaiman's sexual assault accusations and the cult of secrecy surrounding him and his predatory nature. I guess as long as the publishers and TV moguls were making money off of his plagiarized works, everyone felt it was fine to keep his horrible abusive actions under wraps. Now that he's fallen from grace with publishers and others, who will no longer publish or produce his works, suddenly the media and book media outlets are feeling free to condemn Gaiman for his sexual abuse. The silence surrounding these allegations has been noted in a couple of high profile articles, which apparently shamed several media outlets into reporting on the story recently. Its important to note that, like most old white guys who abuse women, Gaiman has denied ever engaging in non-consensual sex with women. I'm so disappointed in him, and his years of claiming to be a feminist, that I want to barf. The fact that he plagiarized Tanith Lee's works for his Sandman series is yet another punch to the gut of NG fans everywhere. So while he's been styling himself as Morpheus of the dream realm, he's actually acting more like Lucifer of Hades.
Neil
Gaiman Accused of Long History of Sexual Assault
As detailed in a shocking expose;
published by New York magazine
this week, eight women have accused
bestselling author Neil Gaiman of sexual assault.
The article describes a pattern of
predatory behavior going back
decades, typically involving young
women in their 20s who were fans of
the author, and expands on allegations
first made last summer in Master,
a podcast series produced by Tortoise
Media.
In a statement posted to his website
Tuesday, Gaiman denied the
allegations, saying that he thought
these relationships were consensual
and that he has "never engaged in
non-consensual sexual activity with
anyone."
The New York Times noted that although a number of upcoming TV
and film projects related to Gaiman were canceled after the original
allegations were made, "the responses from his publishers, agents,
and professional collaborators
have been far more subdued." (Note: SHAME on these people!)
Katherine Kendall, one of the women who
went on the record with New
York, told the Times there was a
"culture of secrecy" around Gaiman's
behavior, and that "Neil's works
were his bait, and promotional events
were his hunting ground. As long as his
publishers and professional
collaborators remain silent, Neil will
continue to have unrestricted
access to vulnerable women."
Kendra Stout, whose account is also
featured in the New York article, is
quoted in the Times as saying: "The
silence of the community around
him--his fandom, his publishers--is
loud and disturbing. I've heard that
it was an open secret that he was a
predator, but that whisper network
did not reach me."
Following Gaiman's post on Tuesday,
Stout shared a statement on behalf
of several of the women who have come
forward that said, per the Times:
"we are disappointed to see the
same non-apology that women in this
situation have seen so many times
before."
I guess it's better late than never, but still, really? They've had 6 months, if not 20 years to deal with this problem, and no one thought to get ahead of it, or, I don't know, turn the man in for being a predator?? Why didn't the obnoxiously outspoken Amanda Palmer, his most recent ex-wife, who was literally half his age, say anything about her husband the creeper? Palmer's a woman who has been known to strip naked for her performances and do just about anything for attention, and yet when it comes to outing her sleazebag ex, she's suddenly shy and retiring? WHY? The two have a young son together, did it never occur to her that predators can turn their gaze and attentions onto young children? At any rate, I hope that all of his publishers and producers and everyone else blacklists the man so that he can't get a job sweeping floors. He should be in jail.
How
Gaiman’s Publishers Are Responding to Sexual Assault Allegations
In
yesterday’s
installment,
I wondered why publishing media has been relatively silent on the
sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman while many mainstream
publications have had it as the top story in their books coverage all
week. At Publishers
Weekly,
per an editor who reached out to me by email, the delay was caused by
waiting on responses to their requests for comment from Gaiman’s
publishers. In a
piece published yesterday afternoon,
PW
reports
confirmation that, as
was reported in the New
York Times
on Tuesday,
HarperCollins, Marvel, and W.W. Norton do not have future books
planned with Gaiman.
As
for who has yet to comment: Dark Horse Comics is reportedly working
on a statement, per PW.
Neither Gaiman’s literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz, nor his speaking
agent, Steven Barclay, has commented. This is a sensitive issue that
no doubt involves complex legal considerations, and yet, I can’t
help but wonder why these folks apparently were not running
scenarios, planning contingencies, and drafting statements in the six
months since the allegations first broke.
This is something I've been saying for years, that women's lives are upended (and often completely ended) by childbirth, but whenever women seek help post partum, they're seen as weak and hysterical and unfit to be mothers. Because motherhood is somehow seen as a proving ground for women, and they're expected to give birth and tend to a new baby without pain or complaint, which is total BS. I know that, though the incidence of older women giving birth has risen substantially in the last 25-30 years, that other than a genetic counselor attempting to frighten myself and my husband with stories of genetic mutations that can occur with late in life babies, we got little to no preparation for dealing with the physical after-effects of childbirth and the birth of a premature infant who would spend two months in the NICU. I was expected to just sail through the pain of basically being vivisected and having a baby ripped out of me without comment or complaint, just being thankful that my baby and I survived the emergency c-section. I will have to look up a copy of this book, it looks to be right up my alley.
Review:
Leave: A Postpartum Account
Shayne Terry explores the nuance and
complexity of pain and birth in
Leave: A Postpartum Account, offering a
raw and candid look at her
difficult, years-long postpartum
recovery. "I have long believed in the
power of language to shape our
experience," she writes. "What we call
things matters." What she calls
her birth experience is not to be taken
lightly: "traumatic," "hard,
with bright, soft spots," "a physical
fracture in my life." Moving back
and forth across time, Terry speaks
around and then directly to the details
of her fourth-degree tear when
her son "ripped his way into the
world," leaving her physically broken
in ways she was wildly unprepared for
in the weeks and months following
the birth of her son.
The CDC estimates that more than 50,000
women per year--or some 135 per
day--suffer dangerous or life-threating
complications from "consequences
of pregnancy or childbirth," and
yet Terry notes how rarely these
complications are discussed. There are
occasional whispers of tears,
stitches, a wound the size of a dinner
plate, but these are couched
within the love and joy and health of
the baby delivered. "The baby is
healthy. The baby is beautiful. We love
the baby. Words that are true
but hide other truths." Terry
pours her own truths out onto the page,
truths that go beyond a healthy baby,
truths that lead her to examine
the generational trauma she inherited
from her mother and her mother's
mother; to understand the deep
connection between physical and mental
anguish; to place her situation within
the context of efforts by some to
limit access to reproductive healthcare
and maternal supports, like paid
leave, all at once. Terry reveals the
transformative power of
transparency, what it looks and feels
like to be honest with oneself and
with others about birth and pain and
trauma--and the messy, complicated
feelings that arise when the three
occur at once.
"Birth is a portal that can take
us to other births," Terry reflects,
and Leave honors this observation,
revealing with a boldness and rawness
that her one birth is both deeply
personal and entirely universal. It is
not hard to imagine that Leave must
have been cathartic for Terry to
write. What is harder to embrace is the
realization that it is also
cathartic to read, acknowledging what
often goes unsaid and
unrecognized, for any reader who has
given birth, endured pain, or known
someone who has (in other words: nearly
everyone). --Kerry McHugh,
freelance writer
Goodnight Moon was one of the first books that my mother read to me, and it was the first book that I read to my son when he was a baby. It's a classic for a reason.
US
Postal Service to Issue Goodnight Moon Stamps
The
United States Postal Service announced this week that it
will issue Goodnight
Moon
stamps
later this year. The beloved bedtime story, originally published in
1947, will join a pantheon of book-related stamps that includes
everyone and everything from Walt Whitman to The
Very Hungry Caterpillar .
In its announcement, the USPS noted that “By celebrating everyday
rituals rather than fantasy, this iconic picture book revolutionized
children’s publishing.” If fantasy is more your thing, you’re
also in luck: SpongeBob SquarePants is getting a stamp this year,
too. Learn more about how
the USPS picks its literary stamps
here.
Island Books was my favorite Independent Bookstore for years when I worked for the newspaper on Mercer Island, and once again, they're proving what a great place that they are by providing support to a group that provides meals to those affected by the California Wildfires. Bravo, Island Books!
Indie
Bookstores Support California Wildfire Relief
On
Wednesday, January 15, Island Books
https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJsdgCKl-8I6a1jIhx0Tw~k1yJoKXv-hs8x67HWJanpoMLg-gVdw,
Mercer Island, Wash., offered "a day of shopping to benefit
World Central Kitchen, providing meals to those affected by the CA
wildfires. We hope you'll come in to buy a card, a book, some
chocolate, toys/games or a gift card."
Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven is a traumatic tale of healing and romance between two survivors of horrific abuse. There's very little about a phoenix in it at all, though I suppose that is a romantic way of looking at the female protagonist's fire wielding powers. Here's the blurb: This was less a romantic fantasy (romantasy) than it was horror/political fantasy with a misogynistic twist. We're supposed to believe, as readers, (especially female readers) that a young woman who is kidnapped and forced to use her magical talents to help this gladiator escape and then reclaim the throne of his clan (by showing that he "owns" a valuable mage) will eventually fall in love with said gladiator because he's buff and handsome, even though he's a user and a jerk. This story has little "spice" in it, and more description of sexual abuse that is nauseating while readers are supposed to feel sorry for every horrific flashback of the male protagonist and the female protagonist being used for the satisfaction of the nobility. Both main characters are covered in scars, inside and outside, and their PTSD moments are raw and poignant. The ending is a simplistic HFN, which works for this painful tale, and I felt it deserved a B-, for its unflinching recounting of rape and sexual assault. Though I can't recommend it to anyone who might be triggered by all the pain and suffering between the covers.
Chained Knight by Lilith Saintcrow is not a stock "romantasy" as the kind that is so popular these days. This is, like the above, more of a story of a woman's journey and survival of horrific domestic abuse who finds herself falling through a doorway into another world after she shoots her shithead husband and has an accident via a rock and mudslide in her car. Here's the blurb: In this new fantasy world, Ari is hailed as the source of purity and healing after she helps a knight escape being imprisoned in chains. Her journey only gets weirder from there. Saintcrow's prose is beautifully evocative and her plot fast and gripping. Nicely done, Ms Saintcrow! I'd give this fascinating ebook a B, and recommend it to those interested in Arthurian fantasy and adventure.
Dream a Little Dream by Kerstein Gier is a YA romantasy that has the now-classic trope of enemies to lovers with the female protagonist being the smarter partner who swears she will never fall in love again, but who tosses it all aside for the handsome guy who needs her. Here's the blurb: It always bothers me when the heroine, in this case Liv, claims that she's a very solemn and reasonable person who doesn't get boy crazy, but who then becomes hysterical and unreasonable the minute she meets a boy who makes her heart flutter. I also wasn't surprised that the villain ended up being the "mean girl" for Liv's class. Teenage girls are always considered hysterical or insane because they're intractable idealists and romantics. Misogyny is so steeped in our society that no one is surprised when one gets all murder-y over a boy. I found the prose here to be somewhat simplistic and the plot to be cookie-cutter. I'd only recommend this to younger YA readers who like lots of tropes and cliches in their romantasy novels.
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton is an LGBTQ rom-com science fiction novel that includes two of my favorite things, found family and smart women who triumph over the odds. The prose was snappy and crisp and the plot unflagging and swift. Here's the blurb: Cleo and Billie's love story is one of the best I've read in a long time, and the secondary characters were all given a moment to shine during the rescue attempt to grab some ill fated astronauts from another dimension. I also loved that the title comes from Sarah William's poem, "The Old Astronomer". "Though my soul
may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the
stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." This was a line I used to recite to myself in my late teens and early 20s, when I'd go stargazing to take my mind off of things going wrong in my life. This was the kind of story to savor, and though I bought it on sale for my Kindle, I plan on trying to find a physical copy to add to my library. For those who find starlight and the night romantic, and who enjoy space adventure stories, I'd recommend this A grade book to you, in whatever form you like best.
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