Ep. #23 Uli Beutter Cohen: Mona Eltahawy, Alexander Chee, Ocean Vuong, Erin Williams, Lauren Duca

After discussing the Subway Book Review project in our Episode 22, Uli Beutter Cohen and I discussed five books that Uli has recently read and recommends: How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee, an essay collection by a Korean American artist and activist; The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy, which has been referred to as a striking anti-patriarchal manifesto written by an Egyptian American activist, “with enough rage to fuel a rocket”; On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong Ocean is a young Vietnamese-American writer — born in Saigon, he was raised in Hartford, Connecticut and his book is semi-autobiographical and speaks to his experiences as an immigrant and a gay man; COMMUTE - An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame by author and illustrator Erin Williams, which has been referred to as intimate, clever, and ultimately gut-wrenching graphic memoir about the daily decision women must make between being sexualized or being invisible; and How to Start a Revolution, by Lauren Duca. To compliment Chee’s work, Uli also mentioned and discussed Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott; and Devotion: Why I Write, Patti Smith