Men Explain Things to Me

And Other Essays

Hardcover, 144 pages

Published Nov. 6, 2014 by Granta, Granta Books.

ISBN:
978-1-78378-079-2
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4 stars (52 reviews)

In her comic, scathing essay "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters. She ends on a serious note-- because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, "He's trying to kill me!" This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf 's embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women

11 editions

Review of 'Men explain things to me' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

When I chose this book I really expected more topics surrounding the title. Feminism was woven inside there, but many of the writings were somehow quite random for me, and I was a little confused when the subject changed so completely and rapidly and for so many times. Eventually this collection seemed to be a bit everywhere, even though the essays that held my attention were really good and inspiring. Being better arranged, or be read in their original context I think I would have given every text more stars than all of them combined!

Review of 'Men Explain Things to Me' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I would read Rebecca Solnit copying lines of Morse Code. Case in point: the title essay is among the most important political statements of our time and yet it's one of about a half dozen such statements of brilliance Solnit has written over her career.

Only reservation is, as it has been pointed out before, one of publishing rather than text. These essays were never meant to be together in a collection and it seems the need to expand the title piece into the lead blocker in a full book has created an important collection that lacks the kind of internal consistency and hum that "Hope in the Dark" (my favorite Solnit book). Still its moving, important and so worth your time.

Review of 'Men Explain Things to Me' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is a short book, but it touches on many things. It is actually a series of commentaries, mostly relating to feminism and a lot relating to violence against women. There is, in my opinion, too much about Virginia Woolf, but for the most part, it's refreshing and good information, a lot of which is often ignored in our society. For instance, did you know that more women are killed by violent men and domestic violence then die as a result of cancer, malaria, war, and automobile accidents combined? This is a fact that comes out early in the book, and it's still mind-boggling to me! The discussion (well, monologue) about violence against women, while recognizing that there is also violence by women against men, is refreshing.
The title of the book is really only one of the treatises presented, but it's very telling!

Review of 'Men Explain Things to Me' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

I've been a fan of Rebecca Solnit since I read [b:A Field Guide to Getting Lost|76479|A Field Guide to Getting Lost|Rebecca Solnit|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422984723l/76479.SY75.jpg|2756721], which astounded me with its exquisite language, deep learning and fascinating connections.

Men Explain Things to Me had all of this, but it was a much more challenging book.

I had read the title essay once before. But reading it again was another reminder to try to spend more time listening than I do talking. This is one essay that I think most men would benefit from reading again and again.

In fact, I think that this is a book most men should read at least once. Most of the rest of the essays had me questioning what it means to be a good man. Many of the essays resulted in difficult and honest self-reflection, examining failures and looking for ways of improving.

The final two …

Review of 'Men Explain Things to Me' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Rebecca Solnit started out to write a humorous essay about those men (and she's clear that it's not all - or even most - men) who automatically dismiss the knowledge, opinions or expertise of a woman even about topics they themselves have no knowledge of, but as she thought it through she came to realise that such behaviour is only one point along a societal spectrum that historically has meant women had no legal rights, even to life itself. One of the points she makes is that the gender-aspect of any violent crime is usually overlooked - for example, we stress the fact that mass shooters are often loners and often have mental health issues (which, incidentally, is not as 'often' as people assume), but we tend to skate over the fact that they are almost always men as if that has no significance. Even when the motive is clearly …

Review of 'Men explain things to me' on Goodreads

5 stars

Wonderfully direct (and depressing while positive) collection of essays that flow into more than their parts, a meditation (and call to recognition) on knowing, on men's insistence on knowing even when we do not, even when the women around us do and are knowing, and on welcoming the unknown and unrevealed mystery in life. Also, very much about the imbalanced continuum of violence against women, from rape to honor killing to silencing and demeaning and doubting women's own lived experience, whether in marriage or on twitter.

Review of 'Men Explain Things to Me' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book is a short collection of essays by writer and historian Rebecca Solnit. I was interested in reading the title essay, "Men Explain Things To Me" which became quite famous a few years ago and indirectly led to the creation of the term "Mansplaining". The author relates some of her experience at a party, when the host found out she was an author and asked what she'd written, only to repeatedly interrupt her to explain to her all about the "best" book on the subject -- which is the book she had written, not that he gave her time to point that out to him. Using this and other similar entertaining examples she discusses how there is often a certain expectation that men need to portray themselves as always having the answers and knowledge to everything, even when they don't and it may lead to them ignoring the actual …

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