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A review by yikesbmg
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
4.0
There was a lot of hype around this book (from podcasts like Call Your Girlfriend and reviews from Roxane Gay), so I went in expecting a lot. My instinct was to give it a 3, 3.5 but chose 4 starts ultimately because: 1) the author is radically honest in some of the essays 2) the lists were a nice touch.
A few of the essays rubbed me as a little too formal but that’s just my personal taste. I think it’s a good first batch of essays and am excited to see where the author goes next with her writing — I hope she focuses on her personal narratives. Not because the other essays were bad but because of my personal leaning towards black female personal narratives. I think the author demonstrated she can do both those and cultural critiques, and I’m more interested in her own story.
The article on reflecting on the author’s thoughts about her role in gentrification was really dissatisfying. The author lightly touches on how her thoughts on the role of people of color who are highly educated and upwardly mobile in gentrification have progressed, but ultimately doesn’t say anything substantial or conclusive. That essay was the most frustrating and left a really bad taste in my mouth because clearly the author is a sharp thinker and conclusive in her other essays, but she pulled back from the one that would implicate her in something not so great. I think there is so much to unpack from that essay that the author hasn’t yet explored and I hope for future work by her on the topic.
A few of the essays rubbed me as a little too formal but that’s just my personal taste. I think it’s a good first batch of essays and am excited to see where the author goes next with her writing — I hope she focuses on her personal narratives. Not because the other essays were bad but because of my personal leaning towards black female personal narratives. I think the author demonstrated she can do both those and cultural critiques, and I’m more interested in her own story.
The article on reflecting on the author’s thoughts about her role in gentrification was really dissatisfying. The author lightly touches on how her thoughts on the role of people of color who are highly educated and upwardly mobile in gentrification have progressed, but ultimately doesn’t say anything substantial or conclusive. That essay was the most frustrating and left a really bad taste in my mouth because clearly the author is a sharp thinker and conclusive in her other essays, but she pulled back from the one that would implicate her in something not so great. I think there is so much to unpack from that essay that the author hasn’t yet explored and I hope for future work by her on the topic.