Invitation: June Book Club with Amanda Montei author of "Touched Out"
PLUS! Author Talk recording with @sheisapaigeturner
FIRST UP! Did you miss the live conversation with Paige Turner today? Watch or listen to the replay here:
June’s book club pick is one I’ve been waiting for since I first started the Angry Woman Book Club. I’ll be joined in conversation with
about her book Touched Out: Misogyny, Motherhood, Consent, and Control, which I have not stopped recommending since I first got my hands on an early copy.This remains the most visceral book on motherhood I have ever read. There were moments she excavated from my memory that validated and healed what had been left unseen in my own early motherhood experience. She wrote into existence words I deeply needed to hear. More than a simple explanation for why mothers feel “touched out” (that particular overwhelm of too many hands pawing at you with need), it’s a meditation on the institution of motherhood and the ways it intertwines with rape culture in the belief that we should sacrifice our bodily autonomy for the nominal good of our kids.
Amanda is also a phenomenal writing teacher (one which I recommend to my own writing clients, who have loved the experience of working with her), a poet, and a powerful essayist. Her latest piece in the New York Times Modern Love “Can a Sexless Marriage Be a Happy One?” is a must read.
Some other great pre-book club reads from Amanda Montei?
This piece on How American Moms Got “Touched Out” in Slate and why Mothers Want To Be Left Alone in The New York Times.
Amanda is also a writer I very fortunately count as both a colleague and friend. I can’t wait to have her as our guest author for The Angry Woman Book Club on Monday, June 17th at 11:30am PT/ 2:30pm ET.
You can add it to your calendar with the zoom link included below:
If you have questions for either of us, you can ask them during the live Q&A or ask them in the comments here. A recording will be made available for paid subscribers who can’t attend live.