Heartbreak: The Political Memoir of a Feminist Militant

(Paperback)

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This final, short book, is the unfolding development of a life and a mind. It reminds us that she was never primarily a political activist, but a writer and, to herself, a scholar ... Since she died last year, a victim of her enormous size, I have come to think that Andrea Dworkin was more important than I thought at the time. Linda Grant, The Jewish Quarterly

Heartbreak confirms that every bolshy, out-spoken freedom fighter who is the anti-type of standard Western glamour, fast becomes a scapegoat for the hatred of unpopular and hard-to-sell ideas; such as feminism.' The Crack Magazine

'... explosive ... uncompromising courage ... you could not get a voice more intensely alive - in its analysis of inequities which bind and divide women across race and class, its incisive accounts of oppression and the costs of resistance, its eloquent love of creativity, and its take-no-prisoners truth-telling.' Times Literary Supplement

Heartbreak is not the memoir of a victim. Dworkin's tone is dry and humorous. Her personality is warm and likeable and, shockingly, she has a wicked sense of humour. If Dworkin had not come into prominence, first as a victim of rape and later as a campaigner against it, she might even be taking her place alongside Fay Weldon and Margaret Atwood. The Times

pleasingly bathetic - her persecutors are finally reduced to their proper size.' Charlotte Raven, New Statesman

Always innovative, often provocative, and frequently polarizing, Andrea Dworkin carved out a unique position as one of the women's movement's most influential figures, from the early days of consciousness-raising to the "post-feminist" present. She wrote thirteen books, ranging across feminist theory, fiction and poetry. Andrea Dworkin died in April 2005.

Reviews

'Andrea Dworkin's contentious reputation is a perfect example of media manipulation. This collection of memoirs, published to commemorate the first anniversary of her death, confirms that every bolshy, out-spoken freedom-fighter who is the anti-type of standard Western glamour, fast becomes a scapegoat for the hatred of unpopular and hard-to-sell ideas; such as feminism.' The Crack, 1 July 2006
'Dworkin appears before us, ravaged and thundering like one of Shakespeare's Plantagenet queens, to deliver her fearsome maledictions...one of the few remaining specimens of pure counterculture Romanticism' New York Times Book Review * Blurb from reviewer *
'...Ultimately, it's a heart-healing journey of redemption and realization.' * Blurb from reviewer *
'...The story of a deeply committed human being willing to challenge injustice where she sees it...In our deeply conformist age, Dworkin provides a model of conscience in action that should inspire everyone of any stripe to look, to listen, to think.' * Blurb from reviewer *
'Heartbreak ... is her last completed book. In it, her great, passionate voice lives on.' -- Michael Moorcock * Daily Telegraph, The *
'the title [Heartbreak] might even be enough to keep it out of the gender studies section of any bookshop. Rather, it will be placed with all the other memoirs of victimised women. Heartbreak is not the memoir of a victim. Dworkin's tone is dry and humorous. Her persomality is warm and likeable and, shockingly, she has a wicked sense of humour.' -- Tamara Kaminsky * Times *
'you could not get a voice more intensely alive - in its analysis of inequities which bind and divide women across race and class, its incisive accounts of oppression and the costs of resistance, its eloquent love of creativity, and its take-no-prisioners truth-telling.' -- Christine Bold * Times Literary Supplement *

Author Bio

Andrea Dworkin was a controversial and influential feminist writer and tireless campaigner against pornography and violence towards women. She died inApril 2005. Author of 13 books, ranging across feminist theory, fiction and poetry, including Pornography, Intercourse and Scapegoat.