Body work is a memoir about memoir that challenges the critiques faced by women and queer people who write about their trauma. In this book, Febos shares some of her personal experiences but mostly she shares her experiences writing trauma based memoirs that relate to sexuality. In the vein of ACE, this book has a lot of say about compulsory sexuality and compulsory heterosexuality. Febos asserts that it is not "navel gazing" to write about motherhood, rape, and other stereotypically female experiences and adds a fair amount of data that shows the healing potential of writing, even writing that is in no way published. 

Calling this a memoir doesn't feel like it fits exactly, but perhaps calling it a meta-memoir does. If you've ever thought of writing your story, read this book. If you've ever felt your trauma wasn't worthy of talking about, read this book. If you want to advocate for anyone with trauma, read this book. Really, just read this book.