AK: Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickle and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in
America is one of the most famous contemporary works about how difficult it
can be for women to survive in America. It’s nonfiction of course, but I’m
wondering if you have any favorite, or even inspiring, books from the genre
(fiction or nonfiction not only about struggling in the “greatest country on
earth” but also struggling from a woman’s perspective)?
NP: I read Ehrenreich's book as about the working class, and not just about
women's survival. But in answer to your question - sort of - one of my favorite
books of all times is A Piece of Cake
by Cupcake Brown. Her story is about one woman's survival from homelessness to
becoming a lawyer. It's a great read. I don't think this answer is really to
the point of your question (I'm having trouble thinking of books specific to
that) but it's a chance to plug Cupcake Brown's book. Really - read it. So many
of the memoirs I've read had to do with dysfunctional families and sexual abuse
rather than with society as a whole.
AK: Is Virginia Woolf’s
classic, A Room of One’s Own important to you? Are there other classics with
similar themes that you see as influences?
NP: I certainly played off of the title A
Room of One's Own - A Broom of One's
Own. I think that women have more trouble finding time, quiet, physical
space, and psychic space for writing, but I think we all need it. In my own
life I have, as I've grown older, found it easier to get this for myself,
probably because I recognize the importance of it more now than I did when I
was younger, and because I am more willing to take it without apology.
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