madgerdes's Reviews (970)

This book appealed to me at this particular moment for several reasons (the most superficial of which is that I'm missing the East Coast). I recently attended a panel at the Western Montana LGBTQ center, which focused on an oral history project that's been going on with some funding from UM professors in the WGSS program. There has been an exodus of queer folks from Montana, and this oral history project has been trying to capture and archive their stories before they leave. I wasn't too familiar with methodology beyond its basic premise, so after the panel, this book went to the top of my TBR as a fun way to learn about oral history. The other major reason is that one of my goals this year is to read more theory, and this book also seemed like a fun way to do that!

I love it when fiction books push me to think about things differently, and this book definitely did that. Each chapter is an interview with a different person who is somehow a part of the New York commune in one way or another. I didn't think of myself as someone who is attached to "the way things are," but there were certain aspects of the new society in this book that I had weird reactions to! For example, I've read a decent amount about abolition of the nuclear family, communal parenting, etc., but then when I was reading about experiences in the book, I could feel myself having an "oh wow this is making me uncomfortable because it's so different from my idea of reality" moment. 

This book is incredibly imaginative and hopeful, and I could see myself using chapters of it in a class eventually – no idea what class, but that's a problem for future me!

Impressive, human, and hopeful. I love seeing this new era of his career. John Green they could never make me hate you!! 

I appreciated the systemic/institutional aspects of the discussion in this book. It has some of the trappings inherent to the memoir/self-help hybrid that it is but I think the framework presented in this book will be a helpful tool for me to call on during the tougher moments of existing in a body! 

This book challenged me in a lot of ways that I didn’t even realize I needed to be challenged. I’m definitely going to get a physical copy at some point to refer back to!

I absolutely loved diving back into the Bunny cinematic universe. This book expanded upon the world and story from Bunny in unexpected ways. The narration style was unique and engaging (I won't give away any spoilers), and I loved that I really couldn't tell where the story was going. I'm always a big fan of creative criticisms of higher education (ala Babel, Disorientation, etc.), and I'm happy to add this to the list of books I've enjoyed in that category. I really appreciate when a book can make me laugh and make me think. We Love You, Bunny had me considering philosophical questions such as who owns an idea, what does it even mean to create, and how can we create without destruction while also laughing at the candid observations of one of the narrators. I highly recommend for fans of magical realism and Twin Peaks, and for anyone who both loves what higher education could be but feels disenchanted by what it is now. 

Also thank you Net Galley for the chance to read and review this early :)

Read this because I was considering using it for a class I’m teaching this fall. It was fine - I’ll probably use a few chapters but definitely not the whole book. It was more focused on the legal drama of everything (which is probably my fault for expecting a lawyer to write a book that wasn’t focused on the legal drama), but those parts of the book failed to hold my attention. I wished he went into a big more detail on the historical components of gun control laws though! The main reason I won’t be using this book though is that it fails to provide any sort of worthwhile racial/class-based analysis regarding this debate. Also, in the chapters about the colonial era & “the Wild West” he did not mention once the role that firearms played in the American genocide of indigenous people–a gap that no self-respecting gun studies scholar would leave  

I consider my approach to education relatively progressive but this book has really pushed me to rethink some of my practices. The scholars in this book eloquently  argue how grading is a type of coercive control - and as someone who wants the classroom to be a place of agency and liberation, I feel my eyes opening to ways I’ve perpetuated this dynamic in my own teaching. I don’t think this will be an overnight shift, but I’m motivated to do this work. I read this book as part of a teaching workshop at work, and I’m thankful to be at a university where I can find community in building liberatory teaching practices rather than being isolated for caring. I think this book was a great first step to take, but I do wish it had more examples of practical applications. That’s my only complaint, but maybe I’m asking too much from this book!