''Difficult Women'' is a 2017 short story collection by

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...

Content

In ''Vogue'', Julia Fesenthal characterized ''Difficult Women'' as "a

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

's taxonomy of the opposite sex. On the narrator's short list: loose women, frigid women, crazy women, mothers, and, finally, dead girls," depicted in stories "woven through with strands of

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

Development and publication

Gay has described being challenged by publishers in the development of the collection owing to the difficult material the book covers. Speaking at the ''Los Angeles Times'' Festival of Books, Gay recounted, "Editors said, 'we love 'Difficult Women''but it makes me want to kill myself." Grove Press published the 272-page collection on January 3, 2017.

Reception

''Difficult Women'' received favorable reviews from critics. Reviewing the collection in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Megan Mayhew Bergman said Gay's "real gift to readers in ''Difficult Women'' is her ability to marry her well-known intellectual concerns with good storytelling." In ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', Jaleesa M. Jones gave ''Difficult Women'' four (of four) stars, noting Gay's "deft touch with how ... intersecting identities mold and shape women’s experiences." In 2018, ''Difficult Women'' was a finalist for the

Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction The Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to a work of fiction on lesbian themes. As the award is presented based on themes in the work, not the sexuality or gender of t ...

and longlisted for the

Aspen Words Literary Prize The Aspen Words Literary Prize, established in 2018, is an annual literary award presented by Aspen Words, a literary center in Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pi ...

References

External links

Difficult Women
at Grove Atlantic
Difficult Women: List of Stories
{{authority control 2017 short story collections African-American literature Grove Press books Literature by African-American women