A pair of sisters have been inseparable ever since they were abducted together as children, and, grown now, must negotiate the elder sister's marriage. The women in these stories live lives of privilege and of poverty, are in marriages both loving and haunted by past crimes or emotional blackmail. Difficult Women tells of hardscrabble lives, passionate loves, and quirky and vexed human connection. What is it like to actually live in an overweight body and deal with the world that is not at all hospitable to such bodies? And so I go way more in depth in terms of physical realities in Hunger.A national bestseller from the "prolific and exceptionally insightful" (Globe and Mail) Roxane Gay, Difficult Women is a collection of stories of rare force that paints a wry, beautiful, haunting vision of modern America. And so I was interested in writing a book about wanting to lose weight and working on it but not being anywhere near the end of that weight loss journey. Oftentimes when women write memoirs about weight loss, it's about triumph and it starts at the end of the journey. On Hunger, the memoir she's writing about her relationship with food Because I think we know things about what it's like to be a woman in the world and that common bond really is a strength. Roxane Gay: 'Bad Feminist,' Real Person July 5, 2014Īnd now I know there are so many popular narratives and many people have had bad experiences with other women, like competitiveness and so on and whatever but I also think that women, when it's necessary, can come together and will come together and support each other. And so I definitely wanted to put that into the book, that - for me at least, the way I see the world - that women are very good to other women most of the time. I really love my friendships with other women, and I have found so much solace and joy and debauchery with other women. On writing stories that show women helping each other And I guess that's just an obsession of mine. I do try to put good men into my stories, but there are more bad men than good.
And so, you know, I think it's because I have an amazing father and amazing brothers - it's knowing how many good men are out there that allows me to explore the men who are difficult, who make horrible decisions. My dad is always like, "What did I do?" And I'm like, "Nothing!" He's - my dad's amazing. The men in these stories are oftentimes not great men. It could absolutely be called Difficult Men. On the book's messed up fathers and abusive boyfriends She recently wrote World of Wakanda #1, a Black Panther prequel. Roxane Gay is also the author of Bad Feminist, An Untamed State and Ayiti. And so that felt like a really great way to introduce readers to my stories of women who go to impossible places but are fighting to find their way back." "And I was really interested in that unbreakable bond and in how they will follow each other no matter what, no matter where, because they've already been to the worst possible place. "Despite the trauma that these two girls endure, they remain very close and they have an unbreakable bond," she says. Gay tells NPR's Audie Cornish that it's both dark and hopeful at the same time. The book opens with "I Will Follow You," an intense story about a pair of sisters whose closeness is the result of a sexual assault when they were girls. (A few years ago, she wrote a book of essays called Bad Feminist.) Her new short story collection, Difficult Women, explores women's lives and issues of race, class and sex. "Difficult woman" is a loaded term, but writer Roxane Gay isn't afraid of taking on ideas with baggage. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Difficult Women Author Roxane Gay