The Madwoman's Underclothes: Essays and Occasional Writings

by Germaine Greer

Book Overview

"From the start, Greer's has been a memorable voice -- direct, passionate, un-repentant -- and this collection of her writings is witness to the tenacity of her personal vision. . . . Greer is informed, intelligent, genial, and never boring, and this is a provocative one-woman show." -- Kirkus Reviews

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871133083
• ISBN13: 9780871133083
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

WHAT SIDE IS SHE ON?

`Her own side' might be the best answer, but it is still liable to create the wrong impression. On the one hand Germaine Greer is impossible to pigeonhole in any established camp or movement, even as a `radical' whatever that is. On the other hand it still seems to me that even as a solo voice she eludes classification too. I don't hear her as trying to establish for herself some individual and distinctive niche as, say, Anne Coulter might be thought to do. Nor do I really believe that she is setting out to shock for the sake of shocking. She is a kind of strident voice of rationality, and that is actually no kind of paradox or oxymoron. She must carry a load of emotional and psychological baggage from her upbringing and her background just as we all do, but she carries it lightly, or seems to. She will ignore conventions blithely, but not just for the sake of ignoring them; and when she seeks attention (which is what any writer is doing) she seeks it for her ideas and arguments. Even the stridency needs some qualification. Her prose is shapely and clear, and although she can turn out some memorable statements the style is all at the service of the thoughts and not driven by a gift or urge for phrasemaking as such, something that could be said of either Muggeridge or her friend Clive James. What gives people problems with Germaine Greer, it seems to me, is her sheer phenomenal articulacy. She can cover more ideas per square paragraph than probably any other journalist I know, but she never seems to lose her thread or lose focus. As we toil along in her wake it's easy to become irritated and frustrated, and that, on top of people's emotional blocks, is no doubt why she arouses resentment. Another notion that I feel is not applicable to her is `extreme'. Indeed she is off orthodoxy's radar at times, but that is not what `extreme' means. I have to come back to it - if her opinions annoy you, try refuting them for themselves without appeals to majorities, silent dumbstruck or other, and see how you get on. It is a perfectly valid answer to many a drastic insight that public opinion will just not wear such a concept, but it is an answer rooted in prudence and practicality, not an intellectual answer. However even prudence should not prevent any of us, as thinking individuals if not as political agents, from seeing clearly when conventional wisdom is talking rubbish and Dr Greer is talking sense, as in her ironic comments on the views of Dr Rhodes Boyson in the matter of adoption of children by same-sex couples in A Modest Proposal. This collection of writings is also a pleasant reminder of a couple of eras, for those of us who are old enough. If you want to get an idea of just how Germaine Greer really related to `The Underground' and other such soi-disant radical movements there are some highly readable essays here and some trenchant assessments of some of the publicity-minded figures linked with these movements, such as Richard Neville. In partic

Germaine Greer at her best

If you have ever wondered why people make much of Germaine Greer (I often did) this book shows her writing at its best. I think that essays suit Greer better than books. The discipline of a short length doesn't allow her to wander off on tangents and self-indulgence (as much). The earlier essays are the most appealing being often witty, trenchent, and incisive. I occasionally remember one and laugh. They are of course sometimes dated, and often marred by a certain transcendent smugness. Greer may call for wide-open revolution and anarchy, but she is sometimes appalled by the results. The problem with urging people to be authentic and make decisions for themselves without reference to society and its standards is that they will often make decisions one doesn't approve of. The later essays take on more serious topics, but they are far less stylish and frequently no more clearly thought out. Valuable, even essential, for people interested in Greer, but not necessarily recommended for a broad audience.

A Forest Fire of a Book

Germaine Greer's sharp mind and strong opinions blaze through these essays like a rampaging fire, sometimes smoking and smoldering, sometimes leaping from the page. Her views on world social and political scenes from the 1950s through the '80s are brutally witty, perceptive and emotional.Essays about drug and rock scenes re-published from Rolling Stone, Oz and other avant-garde publications explore unconventionality, but her frantic tone and obvious attempt to shock for the sake of shocking weaken her voice. In these early writings, Greer is the Chicken Little of her generation, racing around shouting, "The sky is falling."Thirty years later, Greer is still racing but her more mature writings show development of a unique set of values and a complexity of spirit. These contemporary essays, like one on women in Cuba and another on resettlement in Ethiopia show passion and an underlying sadness. The adult Greer is still unaware of her own narrowmindedness, a condition that she unhesitatingly condemns in others.MADWOMAN is definitely worth your consideration. In it Greer is trashy, hysterical, angry and she's also articulate, funny and sagacious. And never dull.

madwoman exhibitionist

A collection of the most valuable insight and veracity from one of the most influential and human people in western society. Greers collection of work shows not only how her genuis has developed but shows the diversity and extent of her cause.