Exhaustively researched - the notes and statistical appendices take up nearly a quarter of the book - look at the emotional effects of racism on black women in America. Sometimes academic texts can be difficult to wade through - academic prose not being high on the readability scale - but this was well and clearly written and Harris-Perry's use of statistics was judged extremely well. (Usually even the word "statistics" is enough to induce in me a soporific effect, but here they were illuminating rather than incomprehensible.) The author covers a wide range of topics, from the idea and experience of shame to the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the influence of religion on the lives of black women, yet despite the range it still felt a cohesive study, with enough referencing between the parts to make me feel as if I were reading a sustained, convincing argument, full of often horrifying examples. Really worth reading.