Customer Reviews

A Different Kind of Intimacy: The Collected Writings of Karen Finley

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Karen Finley's latest book, both a memoir and a collection of her work is a window into the life of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Karen Finley has always flown in the face of convention creating work that is both political and personal, challenging and difficult, redemptive and healing. As one of the now famous NEA Four she became Jesse Helms' favorite whipping woman in his plot to further toss American back to the 1950s forever

In her book Karen Finley shares pieces from her acclaimed performances and books as well as insights into her life at the time she was working on them and the events that helped shape her work throughout the years. From friends and loved ones dying of AIDS, to her own battles with censorship, the suicide of her father and the many evolutions her work has gone through the reader is priveleged to share intimate details of her life and be even more changed and challenged by her work.

This books is a must have for any artist, activist, thinker, woman, man, whoever. To read it is to confront your own fears, demons, priveleges, biases and secrets.

I saw Karen Finley in Charleston SC years ago. I had no idea what to expect....I had never heard of her before. The tardy Ms. Finley entered the auditorium from the back, totally naked. I knew then that she was like no other person on earth. She yelled and screamed her stories, her anger , her pain....our pain....to the gods above. Through out the performance she gradually clothed herself until she ended the performance fully dressed. I was dumbfounded, changed...and I fully understood how her nudity was necessary to her art...to her connection with her audience. For years I search for information on this woman, hoping to see another performance....to again experience what I felt that night. Catharsis. I was thrilled when an internet search brought me here, to her memoirs. This book did not disappoint. It gave great insight into the life of this very strange, and gifted woman. Though everyone may not agree with her beliefs and politics, they have to admire her intelligence and strength. One suggestion Ms.Finley, get a website so people like myself can let you know how you've made a difference in their lives.R.Renn

forget what you think you know about karen finley, because unless you've actually been to one of her performances and/or read her essays, you don't know much. okay. so let's forget about the yams, the chocolate, the nudity, the naughty words and all of that. just for the space of this review, humor me. still with me? karen finley is amazing. she is the (unwilling) joan of arc of pop culture as we know it. she dared to deconstruct dysfunction, patriarchal power junkies, AIDS hysteria, sexism, homophobia....okay, you get the idea...and she tackled all these things, and so many more subjects, on a human level, on a confrontational level, with compassion and parody combined, with anger and love combined, espousing politically correct ideas in a very unpolitically correct voice during very PC times. while this book is not a "compilation", per se, it is a kind of experimental autobiography, with big chunks of finley's work interspersed throughout - sort of a show and tell exhibit in a book. it works. it's immensely, addictively readable, and quite user-friendly for such a confrontational artist. the only frustration i had with this work was the ending, which frustrated and disappointed me, though the discouraging ending could easily be yet another performance art prank served finley style.....

Every time I think of U
My Virginia starts 2 bleed
& Jesus is my savior
she knows just what I need
Every time I dream of U
I get so wet inside
Jesus is my savior
Satan is my bride

I have to admit enjoying Karen Finley's Collected Writings which were published as a kind of memoir. Frankly, during much of the time I spent reading the book, I really couldn't decide if she was actually serious or just pulling the reader's leg. I enjoyed some of her poetry the best, especially "The Black Sheep". It would be difficult for anyone not to be moved by hearing the tragic stories of dying friends. She was best when she was the most sensational. She reminded me of a newspaper Tabloid and their publishing priorities--"if it bleeds it leads." I felt most of her artwork was amatuerish. She came across to me as kind of a rebel being a rebel just to be a rebel. One of the most famous quotes included in her book is "Whenever I See a Rainbow in the Sky, I See an Angel Being Raped." She wanted so much to point out that women are only looked at as sexual objects, but the only way she could figure out to make that point was to prance around nude in front of her audience. I have to admit she was a very beautiful woman with a wonderful body that she wasn't afraid to show off in order to make her points about women's bodies being exploited. But isn't it a bit of a paradox to become famous by performing in the nude or covered only by some smeared chocolate when you are trying to convince people that looking at women only as objects of sexual pleasure is wrong. If she wasn't so good looking when dressed only in her birthday suit, she would never have become famous enough to appear in TIME magazine dressed only in smeared chocolate. She may have provided lots of much-needed press and publicity to art museums, but she is also a hypocrite and a very beautiful one at that. The book is still worth reading--just like Tabloids. It's also fun to ogle the pictures of her naked body. Some of them are not only erotic, funny, but they also make the reader hungry for a candy bar or two or even three. In fact that's the best part of the book and maybe why the cover of the book has a photograph by Annie Leibovitz of a nude woman wrapped around both the front and back? It's a fun read, a little warped, but worth dipping into. I only wish I'd actually attended one of her nude performances. I would gladly have paid for a front row seat. Maybe I missed her point?

If you want to hear a lot of whining from a grown woman, this is the book for you. If you are looking for thoughtful literature, don't buy this piece of trash. Can I have my money back?

What has Finley really done for Feminisim other than perpetuate this idea of a molested angry female on the verge of tears?
Just another semi-biographic book from a women that can only talk about herself and what men have done to her.
If you want to feel sorry for yourself or hide it in fits of anger, read this book. She offers no solutions, and no resolution, because she ultimately cannot handle resolution. Without conflict and hate, she's a shell of a person and so is her writings.