Mercy

by Andrea Dworkin

Book Overview

If Andrea Dworkin is the Malcolm X of feminism, then this novel is her version of his autobiography. . . . She is brilliant, her anger is a polished and dangerous instrument, and even some of the people she's marked as enemies can hope she finds her way. -- Madison Smartt Bell, Chicago Tribune

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0941423883
• ISBN13: 9780941423885
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Victim or Survivor?

An intense, factual, and very personal revelation about the impact on one person who has been sexually abused. No hiding or shame, Dworkin puts it all out there. Think what you want but she's been there and no one can - or should - tell her how she feels about such a devastating assault. It is NEVER the victim's fault. The writing technique is not the point, the continued existence of this type of viciousness is what readers may find hard to believe.

A Misunderstood Work

This book is a provocative and interesting story of a woman's sexual abuse. True, she does choose to live on the streets of NYC, but does that make her abuse okay? For a large portion of this book, I had little sympathy for Andrea because she chose her lifestyle. But this book really does have much to say. More than anything, I believe this book is a picture of how our childhoods effect us. No one seems ready to help Andrea, and she does not seem to know better. It is true that this book may seem a bit unrealistic in trying to get its poitn across, but, in the 2 endings, Dworkin gets the best message of this book across. In today's society, women are either submissive or labeled a "crazy" feminist. There is no in between, and that is frustrating for many of us. Our society has mixed messages of what feminism is, and, though it is 2004, there is still a strong bias, alive and well, against women. I applaud Dworkin's courage to be true to herself in writing such a novel.

A public baring of the soul

This is a greatly misunderstood work. Oddly enough, most ardent opponents seem to be the feminist intelligensia (who Dworkin depredates as those waving the "intellectual feminism" banner) who understand this book as a reckless and irresponsible call for violent retributivism against all men. Dworkin writes powerfully and passionately, and it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the novel's narrator ("Andrea")replicates Dworkin's personal views of justice. Rather, this novel interrogates conventional notions of justice and mercy and asks us, the reader, to consider the circumstances of Andrea's life in understanding her conduct at the novel's conclusion. The novel's feminism is not achieved by baldly inciting all women to violence. Rather, Dworkin points out that: 1) the violence that has been, and is, perpetrated against women is genocidal, and that men have engaged in literal war against them. 2) The judicial system takes litle note of women's experiences in sexual assault, child custody, and other such hearings, and reinforces gender-biased interpetations of women. Dworkin interrogates judicial practice by positioning the reader as the trier of fact whose sole referrant is Andrea, herself. We judge 'her' conduct according to 'her' story. It is only because the legal system fails women that the latter must employ more martial means in defending themselves.Whether you agree with her or not, Dworkin pens an extremely provocative work that will certainly challenge your assumptions regarding gender relations. The novel's liberal use of stream-of-consciousness techniques reinforces the immediacy and "story from the frontlines" feel of the narrative. I strongly recommend to anyone interested in feminist discourse.

Harrowing, Ultimately Worth It

The problem with Dworkin's writing isn't that it is, in itself, problematic -- it is that most readers are too lazy to make their way through the dense writing Dworkin sets up at least in part as an effort to rescue language from its connotations and provide a new set of associations and perspectives for the reader's use. To say that this novel is not for those with a short attention span is to make quite an understatement; however, Dworkin's fiction is a brave and valuable venture into the realm of a new kind of female protagonist. This book is a necessity for those who would investigate feminist fiction.

My review is two words: Never Again. Never Again.

...and I am wondering why it took this book for me to say them, even to myself. Never again.