Customer Reviews

Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fascinating slice of history that needed a stronger-handed editor or coauthor.

The best parts of the book deal with the relationship between women and firearms during the last 15 to 20 years, yet these are also the most problematic. For instance, Browder asserts that Sara Weaver became an object of fascination in the white supremacist community after the Ruby Ridge standoff, yet she fails to provide even slight textual support for this (were white power zines and websites running articles, photo spreads, and interviews gushing over her, or what?).

Even worse, in the last chapter, during what feels like an extremely rushed-to-press discussion of the Iraq War, she writes that the only female soldier to become visible during this conflict was Lynndie England. Uh, Jessica Lynch anyone? How the hell did Browder and her editor miss that? Lynch's story conflates our concepts of "hero" and "victim"; while that's not exactly new or unique to her (the 9/11 mythos suffers from this conflation as well), her portrayal as both a hero and as a cute, blonde damsel-in-distress -- while her story fits neither categorization neatly -- is extremely relevant to a feminist discussion of arms and combat.

I'm glad I checked this book out from the library rather than purchase it, but despite its lack of thoroughness, this is an extremely compelling read and a good starting point for anyone doing research in this area

I picked up Laura Browder's book at my library on a whim. I'm not a proponent of guns yet the premise of her book intrigued me - as did the included photographs. Browder's writing is lean without being sparse and the book itself only totals 287 pages so it makes for a quick read. Regarding the reviewer comment citing a need for more information on featured profiles of women with guns throughout US history, Bowder cites all her sources and includes an expansive index for the reader. If you're looking for a comprehensive anthology of all notable female gun proponents in US history, this is not your book. I'm not sure if such a book even exists. However Browder creates a wonderful snapshot of the public perception of women and guns starting in the mid 1800's onwards through the 1999's. I found her book fascinating and a quick read - partly due to her subject matter and partly to her writing style.

I read this cover to cover in a few days- there is a lot of history about women and guns in America but the delivery is very digestible! With more and more female soldiers in combat in Iraq and other places in the world, this book dispels many myths about women and guns and gives a good background on American culture throughout the years.