3.5
Men Explain Things to Me
ByPublisher Description
In her comic, scathing essay "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.
She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, "He's trying to kill me!"
This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf's embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.
"In this series of personal but unsentimental essays, Solnit gives succinct shorthand to a familiar female experience that before had gone unarticulated, perhaps even unrecognized." —
"Essential feminist reading." —
"This slim book hums with power and wit." —
"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society." —
"Essential." —
"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions." —
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesMen Explain Things to Me Reviews
3.5
“Because Men Explain Things to Me is a collection of essays written over several years, it doesn't have a strong unifying thread and feels disjointed. The shifts between topics are abrupt, and the quality of the writing varies from piece to piece. It doesn't dig into complex issues with enough depth, and you may also notice that some arguments and examples come up more than once. For all its flaws, the book has its moments that leave a mark.”
“a very accessible series of essays that began light-hearted but soon delved into the true epidemic of violence against women. some of it was repetitive and stayed on the surface, but it helps provide an introduction to the themes of gender and power. it would be interesting to see these essays adapted to 2026, almost 12 years after these were initially compiled.”
“good essay collection to grab quick facts on gender equity and how much work we still need to do”
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