Double Bind: Women on Ambition [Paperback]

A work of courage and ferocious honesty (Diana Abu-Jaber),In essays that are bold, absorbing, insightful, and wise, the writers inWonderful, readable stories that are as complex and compelling as their authors.Daring, wonderfully readable, and packed with truth.Robin Romm has assembled a terrific group of writers to explore an essential and durable topic.I read this book from cover to cover on two plane flights, and I instantly felt welcomed into my tribe of women struggling with ambition. Some of these women want ambition; some do not. Some are polite and demur in their expressions of ambition; others are ballsy (!) and forward. Some of the women feel supported in their pursuit of ambition; others struggle alone. Listening to the voices of all these women, I felt embraced and understood.This vital book is full of the true, brave voices of women whove accomplished great things despite living in a culture that pays lip service to the notion of womens full humanity but still does so much to hold us backincluding, not incidentally, teaching us to hate and doubt ourselves. Now more than ever, these stories need to be read.The animating ethos ofA welcome addition to the discourse on a topic that rarely receives the kind of honest and wide-ranging consideration these essays offer. A thoughtfully provocative anthology.Women today have been told that they can have it all, but novelist and essayist Romm presents a collection of essays that reveals that the reality is much more complex. . . . Raw, frank, and utterly relatable, this collection is a must-read.Illuminating. . . . While not an advice book in the traditional form, the experiencesrecounted and lessons learned seep as if by osmosis, and Romms thoughtfulaggregation has provided a diversity of voices.Ambition will always be complicated for women, and not just because of external impediments: it is an imperfect drive, enacted in imperfect circumstances, that inevitably leads to imperfect things.ló(