That's hilarious. A man should go through that series of escalating audience questions without a single moment of weakness -- untouched, and confident. They are so used to being pampered, accomodated, caving and cowardice, that the sequence would be gold.

I reject the premise (it's not yours) that one has to read in an egalitarian way. Intellectual & artistic "extremism" and purity are valuable, as contrast, in terms of clarity, excellence, and diversity. Call it specialization, a component of pluralism -- what's clear is that its unique. (A similar argument supports not reading others' work, any of it, in order to preclude foreign influence & assimilation.) Support entirely manly and entirely feminine thinkers.

You are right about memory, and stress.

Personally, I'm interested in women (the reasons not overwhelmingly "egalitarian"), how they feel, and think. There's beauty to them. (Arguably, less so for a gay man.) What are your favorite books by women, Amy?

Books by women -- can't think of them at the moment.

I like an essay, "On self-respect," by Joan Didion.

I like Fran Lebowitz.

I need a nap.

Oh, and I really like Jonathan Gottschall's "Professor in the Cage," a book by a man about men, why men fight, etc.

Does that make me a bad SJW sister? (I hope so!)

Link to Gottschall:

http://amzn.to/25Dk8dd

Title: The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch

Just out in paperback.

Just gave a copy to my accountant and gave one to my copyeditor for Xmas.

Best book I read this past year.

OMG! That is actually kind of funny. When I'm reading I don't always wonder or care about the gender, race, age, etc. of the writer. I'm just reading something because I like it.

And really, just what does it mean to comment something like "she's a really good woman writer" anyway? Is it sort of like the Oscars where they categorize every award; e.g. best male lead, best female lead, etc.

Does commenting on the "category" of a writer mean that they can't be compared to other writers who are a different category?

Which reminds me of an answer that Thurgood Marshall gave to a reporter when asked if he thought his being on the Supreme Court made life better for Black Americans; he said that he hoped that his serving on the Supreme Court made life better for ALL Americans.

Shouldn't the same be said for writers? Do we really need to care about the "category" of the writer so much? Quite frankly, and no offense Amy, I like your blog (and books) because I like your writing. Your gender, your age, your red hair don't mean squat to me. Although that fly swatter has me wondering. Are you, like, getting ready to swat all the flies that come buzzing around from the daily BS we all endure in life?

P.S. by "category" I don't mean what genre they write in I mean their ethnicity, age, gender, etc. Of course, the genre matters.

If they're going to get all pouty like that, I'm not sure we could recommend them for any management positions. \
For the record I didn't notice at all when Ruth Plumly Thompson took over writing the OZ series from L. Frank Baum. I thought they were great. Of course I was 11 and had no concept/social construct about gender hysteria. Oh my. I suppose even using the term 'hysteria' is misogyny.

Amy,

I've considered Prof in the Cage a handful of times. Decided to look for a classic account instead -- Tacitus, Cicero..., up to Clausewitz.

"I need a nap."

I like that one. Though it's a dangerous story, when it turns into the story of one's life.

Back to women, there are books, like Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, that explain "the world". I'm interested in a female, incl. feminine, take. Something not by a self-described feminist.

This will be (says Goog) the fifth citation of the passage, but its garlic is as pungent as ever:

"The unvarnished truth is this: You could eliminate every woman writer, painter and composer from the cave man era to the present moment and not significantly deform the course of Western culture. Of course you would lose individual artists of merit: I'd sorely miss Jane Austen and George Eliot, Sigrid Undset and Willa Cather. But you would eradicate few if any true giants, and hardly anyone who radically changed a form instead of simply executing it well."

— William A. Henry III

Finally thought of a female non fiction author I find inspiring

Anyone who feminists hate for exposing the fraud

Had I been in that position, being asked a gotcha question by some smug J-school student, I would have been strongly tempted to answer with: "Ann Coulter".

"Finally thought of a female non fiction author I find inspiring
Anyone who feminists hate for exposing the fraud"

They sure do hate on Christina Hoff-Summer.