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Roxane Gay

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Roxane Gay

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Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. Her newsletter, The Audacity, where she also hosts The Audacious Book Club, can be found at audacity.substack. ...more

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Roxane Gay I live in the middle of nowhere, I don't have children, I'm an insomniac, I love writing, I'm motivated, writing is often self-medication. …moreI live in the middle of nowhere, I don't have children, I'm an insomniac, I love writing, I'm motivated, writing is often self-medication. (less)
Average rating: 4.05 · 347,818 ratings · 40,651 reviews · 127 distinct worksSimilar authors
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

4.17 avg rating — 117,637 ratings — published 2017 — 72 editions
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Bad Feminist

3.92 avg rating — 116,786 ratings — published 2014 — 56 editions
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Difficult Women

3.95 avg rating — 29,862 ratings — published 2017 — 29 editions
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Not That Bad: Dispatches fr...

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4.43 avg rating — 21,825 ratings — published 2018 — 3 editions
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An Untamed State

4.07 avg rating — 19,531 ratings — published 2014 — 30 editions
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Ayiti

4.27 avg rating — 8,051 ratings — published 2011 — 13 editions
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Graceful Burdens

4.05 avg rating — 5,376 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions
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Opinions: A Decade of Argum...

3.99 avg rating — 3,553 ratings — published 2023 — 12 editions
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Black Panther: World of Wak...

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3.75 avg rating — 3,006 ratings — published 2017 — 5 editions
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The Best American Short Sto...

3.99 avg rating — 2,036 ratings — published 2018 — 4 editions
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The Writing Life
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Roxane’s Recent Updates

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When the Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris
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This is a beautiful, deeply heartfelt and resonant story about so many things but especially how trauma can keep a person from living their lives as their trust self. It's about love and finding home and safety in another. It's about family and how i ...more
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Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli
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An absolutely haunting but necessary book-length essay on children who cross into the US as undocumented immigrants. It’s really damning to see how relevant this book is today and how, in fact, immigration has become an even more dire prospect today.
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The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
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These Heathens by Mia McKenzie
These Heathens
by Mia McKenzie (Goodreads Author)
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There is a lot to love in We Heathens, set in 1960s Georgia. Mia McKenzie captures the voice of Doris, her protagonist beautifully as a young woman who rarely gets to make decisions for herself and when a beloved teacher takes Doris to Atlanta for an ...more
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Scorched Earth by Tiana Clark
Scorched Earth: Poems
by Tiana Clark (Goodreads Author)
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An absolutely magnificent collection of poetry. Clark has a really deft hand with poetic forms. I especially enjoyed the emotional tenor of the poems, the sensual imagery, the voice.
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Dominion by Addie E. Citchens
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Whew. This is one hell of a novel. In Dominion, people’s secrets are largely out in the open. Priscilla, the First Lady of the Seven Seals Missionary Baptist Church has long looked the other way from her husband, the Reverend Sabre Winfrey Jr.’s indi ...more
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Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
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I love a sprawling family novel full of dysfunction, a lack of self awareness among many characters, something of a mystery and an exploration of inherited trauma. This is an incredibly densely written novel, at times too dense but it’s also funny an ...more
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Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
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Great, and very apt title. Tore through this in a day. I don't particularly care about tech memoirs but this one was really interesting, a look at how a woman went to Facebook full of idealism about how the platform could change the world, and then r ...more
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First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg
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First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg is the consummate L.A. story. Allison, nearing thirty, is a writer, adjunct professor, book club facilitator, and Los Angeles transplant, meets a famous radio personality at a bar. Before long, they are in a re ...more
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Back After This by Linda  Holmes
Back After This
by Linda Holmes (Goodreads Author)
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Linda Holmes is such a charming writer and I love how she writes about love. In Back After This, Cecily is an audio producer who reluctantly agrees to host a new podcast about dating with guidance from Eliza, an influencer and dating coach but there' ...more
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Quotes by Roxane Gay  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“I embrace the label of bad feminist because I am human. I am messy. I’m not trying to be an example. I am not trying to be perfect. I am not trying to say I have all the answers. I am not trying to say I’m right. I am just trying—trying to support what I believe in, trying to do some good in this world, trying to make some noise with my writing while also being myself.”
Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist

“I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women even if we wouldn’t make certain choices for ourselves.”
Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist: Essays

“It’s hard to be told to lighten up because if you lighten up any more, you’re going to float the fuck away.”
Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist: Essays

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“There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you. The terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know.”
James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

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message 9: by modes

modes so happy you're coming to pittsburgh and looking forward to speaking with you soon (i'm with the city paper and your publicist has been kind enough to help facilitate an interview)! absolutely loving "difficult women."


Roxane Thank you, Evelyn!

Evelyn wrote: "I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying An Untamed State. I am reading it for my book club so I'm torn between wanting to read it very slowly and carefully, taking time to digest all t..."


Evelyn I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying An Untamed State. I am reading it for my book club so I'm torn between wanting to read it very slowly and carefully, taking time to digest all the tidbits, and wanting to devour it all in one sitting. I am completely enthralled (at the half-way point) and so eager to continue reading; I can already tell this will be one of my favorite books of the year! :)


message 6: by R.B.

R.B. Anderson Hi Roxanne,
An Untamed State sound like a powerful read and I have added it to my Want list.

Thank you for befriending me.
RBA


message 5: by Dean

Dean Pusell Thank you for being my friend Roxane :))). Peace


Jaimie Teekell I don't tumbl, so I have no way of commenting to yours though I'm subscribed via RSS. As a single writer living alone who feels like she has no life and cooks for herself and shit, I loved your latest. Not that balance isn't important, but I'm sure the people out there with "lives," the ones who can think at all, think, "I should do something with my life" now and again. You inspired me to make chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to yesterday but I thought, "What's the point?" Your post wasn't really even about doing something for yourself. It was mostly just the yummy pictures.


message 3: by Erin (last edited Jun 20, 2013 11:13PM)

Erin Enjoyed your article in Salon about Paula Deen. Was excited to realize that I recognized your name from Goodreads and that I intend to read your fiction someday!


Roxane Thanks!



message 1: by Jason

Jason Jordan Welcome to Goodreads, Roxane. :)


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