A classic work of feminist scholarship, Ain't I a Woman has become a must-read for all those interested in the nature of black womanhood. Examining the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman's involvement with feminism, hooks attempts to move us beyond racist and sexist assumptions. The result is nothing short of groundbreaking, giving this book a critical place on every feminist scholar's bookshelf.

Drawing on her experiences as a professor of English and the author of sixteen highly acclaimed books, critic bell hooks presents an insightful collection of essays on the process and politics of writing. Centrally, many of the essays raise provocative questions about the feminist movement and women's writing—the kinds of voices women have established in the wake of the demand for more writing by women, the politics of confession and the type of standards being set for women writers by critics. Several essays explore hooks's personal relationship to publishing, explaining the impact success has had on her work as she highlights her movement from writing in relative isolation to writing in New York City amidst the publishing industry, in a world full of writers. Other essays focus on the dearth of nonfiction writing by Black women, contrasting that with the rise in their published fiction. More general essays focus on writing as healing, raising issues about the...

Author, activist, feminist, teacher, and artist bell hooks is celebrated as one of the nation's leading intellectuals. Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, hooks drew her unique pseudonym from the name of her grandmother, an intelligent and strong-willed African American woman who inspired her to stand up against a dominating and repressive society. Her poetry, novels, memoirs, and children's books reflect her Appalachian upbringing and feature her struggles with racially integrated schools and unwelcome authority figures. One of Utne Reader's "100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life," hooks has won wide acclaim from critics and readers alike. In Appalachian Elegy, bell hooks continues her work as an imagist of life's harsh realities in a collection of poems inspired by her childhood in the isolated hills and hidden hollows of Kentucky. At once meditative, confessional, and political, this poignant volume draws the reader deep...

"The word "love" is most often defined as a noun, yet...we would all love better if we used it as a verb," writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness.As bell hooks uses her incisive mind and razor-sharp pen to explore the question "What is love?" her answers strike at both the mind and heart. In thirteen concise chapters, hooks examines her own search for emotional connection and society's failure to provide a model for learning to love. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for the individuals and for a nation. The Utne Reader declared bell hooks one of the "100 Visionaries Who Can Change...

From writer, critic, and popular cultural icon bell hooks comes a seductive portrait of passion in fifty soul-stirring poems. When Angels Speak of Love heralds the debut of a major new poet: bell hooks. World renowned for her courageous, provocative intellectual writing and her alluring charisma, hooks poetically engages the erotic imagination -- creating a tapestry of words that are sensual, lush, and profoundly inspiring. In this beautiful new collection, hooks illuminates our experiences with love -- tracing the link between seduction and surrender; the intensity of desire; and the anguish of death. hooks's previous four titles on the topic of love -- from All About Love to The Will to Change -- have made her the go-to source for readers longing to bring more love into every aspect of their lives. These words are meant to be read aloud and learned by heart. This ecstatic collection affirms hooks's position as the high priestess of love.