Customer Reviews

Shaking a Leg: Collected Journalism and Writings

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This anthology of Carter's writing contains essays that will make you laugh, make you angry, fascinate you, and educate you with the perspectives of a person who lived through times of authentic social change and the establishment's reaction to change. The reflections and arguments compiled in this book themselves comprise a valuable heirloom for any reader or writer interested in 20th century politics and culture.

I have several favorites, like the uproariously satirical pieces on Linda Lovelace and D.H. Lawrence. There are also some illuminating essays on less known writers like Christina Stead and Bessie Head. Her investigational writings on Japanese culture are fascinating readings. Most compelling for me are the essays on the atomic/nuclear bomb, in which Carter expounds on the failure of reason against nuclear weapons.

This anthology has something for everyone. I think in a way Carter was a writer's writer, but any reader can enjoy her work. Any fan of her truly gothic fiction will find the anthology informative and revealing with regards to Carter's personal ideology, feminist perspectives, and her inner values as a woman.

Like everything Angela Carter ever wrote, her essays are precise, profound, lyrical and always always decidedly hers. The essays collected here overflow with Carter's humor and insight. Every page was a true pleasure to read.