I really enjoyed some of the essays in this, mainly the first two. My two qualms with it were that it’s obvious that these essays were not meant to be read collectively—she often makes references to an incident or event in multiple essays and then explains it as if we are encountering the idea for the first time.

While I think Solnit made some really interesting points, there is a lack of intersectionality that gets on my nerves. Her opinion that “violence doesn’t have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender,” is frankly, ignorant and oversimplifying a complex problem. The second essay, which covered the topic of violence against women would have been even more effective had she included a discussion about the myriad of ways women of color and lgbt+ women face higher rates of violence than cis/het white women.

Overall, not my favorite feminist read, but there’s definitely some good thoughts in here.