Susan Griffin, Feminist Writer

I don't remember who suggested this book or when, don't even remember downloading the entire book.  (Usually I download samples, then look for the book in the library.)

But here it is, complete, on my Kindle app this Sunday morning like an unexpected present: What Her Body Thought.

Here is a description of the book I found on her author page:

For three years, philosopher and feminist theorist Susan Griffin was afflicted with Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS). Hobbled by constant pain, weakness, insomnia, and diminished thinking, she was forced to rely upon friends just to get through each day. In this book, similar in spirit to her earlier A Chorus of Stones, Griffin examines both the experiences of her own body and the body politic. Using the story of Marie Duplessis, a nineteenth-century courtesan who died of tuberculosis at the age of 23, the author is able to explore the links between illness, poverty, sin, isolation, and shame.

The topics she addresses are difficult ones, but her descriptions of pain and poverty are hauntingly written. I'm intrigued by her comparisons between the physical body and the larger cultural body, and I'm having a hard time putting the book (as it were) down.

I prefer books on paper, in general, as I can underline passages in pen--but am reading this book on my iPad and highlighting a phrase or a passage on nearly every page.

Susan Griffin feels real, like a new friend, vulnerable, brilliant, and self-revealing.  While her experiences and mine are very different, her writing challenges me to be more emotionally honest.