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The New Woman's Broken Heart: Short Stories
Eight short stories by the author of WOMAN HATING and OUR BLOOD.
These are just the beginnings:
"it began quite possibly with Nancy Drew"
— the simple story of a lesbian girlhood
"first i gave up men. it wasnt easy but it sure as hell as obvious."
— bertha schneiders existencial edge
"there was a woman. she was a big woman and she was a sad woman. she had been in her life to the mountains and to the oceans. she had seen the sand. she did not got to the desert."
— how seasons pass
"bertha schneider, nearly 31, was too disturbed to have any friends. she was like all other schlubs running around out there. loss was driving her crazy."
— some awful facts, recounted by bertha schneider
"morning broke. I mean, fell right on its goddamn ass and broke. no walking barefoot if you care about yr feet, kid."
— the new womans broken heart
"bertha schneider had once been a woman and was now an androgyne. as a woman she had lain for 8 years on her back with her legs open as the multitudes passed by leaving gifts of sperm and spit. now as an androgyne her legs were still open but at the same time they ran, jumped, swan, stood up, skipped, and squatted."
— the wild cherries of lust
"as she kissed his neck, bertha schneider remembered her unrelenting sadness."
— bertha schneiders unrelenting sadness
"she was slit in the middle, a knife into the abdomen, his head rose up from the bloody mess, indistinguishable from her own inner slime. this was his birth. success at least. her 40th birthday came and went."
— the slit
These are just the beginnings:
"it began quite possibly with Nancy Drew"
— the simple story of a lesbian girlhood
"first i gave up men. it wasnt easy but it sure as hell as obvious."
— bertha schneiders existencial edge
"there was a woman. she was a big woman and she was a sad woman. she had been in her life to the mountains and to the oceans. she had seen the sand. she did not got to the desert."
— how seasons pass
"bertha schneider, nearly 31, was too disturbed to have any friends. she was like all other schlubs running around out there. loss was driving her crazy."
— some awful facts, recounted by bertha schneider
"morning broke. I mean, fell right on its goddamn ass and broke. no walking barefoot if you care about yr feet, kid."
— the new womans broken heart
"bertha schneider had once been a woman and was now an androgyne. as a woman she had lain for 8 years on her back with her legs open as the multitudes passed by leaving gifts of sperm and spit. now as an androgyne her legs were still open but at the same time they ran, jumped, swan, stood up, skipped, and squatted."
— the wild cherries of lust
"as she kissed his neck, bertha schneider remembered her unrelenting sadness."
— bertha schneiders unrelenting sadness
"she was slit in the middle, a knife into the abdomen, his head rose up from the bloody mess, indistinguishable from her own inner slime. this was his birth. success at least. her 40th birthday came and went."
— the slit
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
5 people are currently reading
410 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Dworkin
30 books1,473 followersAndrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women.
An anti-war activist and anarchist in the late 1960s, Dworkin wrote 10 books on radical feminist theory and practice. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, she gained national fame as a spokeswoman for the feminist anti-pornography movement, and for her writing on pornography and sexuality, particularly in Pornography - Men Possessing Women (1981) and Intercourse (1987), which remain her two most widely known books.
An anti-war activist and anarchist in the late 1960s, Dworkin wrote 10 books on radical feminist theory and practice. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, she gained national fame as a spokeswoman for the feminist anti-pornography movement, and for her writing on pornography and sexuality, particularly in Pornography - Men Possessing Women (1981) and Intercourse (1987), which remain her two most widely known books.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 14, 2014
Intense, and aside from certain 1970-s signifiers (Hell's Angels, writing as a possible blue-collar profession), contemporary feeling. Stylization of punctuation is similar to much of the alt-lit prose, but I can't honestly believe many of them have read this. The story that examines the racial implications of the protagonist's boyfriend's German Shepard raping the protagonist's dog is brilliant. And chilling.
I was familiar with Dworkin via her legal work with MacKinnon and her fierce arguments against pornography. This fiction feels like narrativized distillations of legal testimony; the stories of abuse, rape, the lived effects of systemic sexual violence.
Cool format to the book - tall, thin, very small press.
I was familiar with Dworkin via her legal work with MacKinnon and her fierce arguments against pornography. This fiction feels like narrativized distillations of legal testimony; the stories of abuse, rape, the lived effects of systemic sexual violence.
Cool format to the book - tall, thin, very small press.
September 27, 2015
Considering how short the book is, it took me a relatively long time to read. Content-wise, brutal but not gratuitously so.
January 25, 2022
"ah, you say, so this explains it, whores hate men because whores see the worst, what would a whore be doing with the best, but the truth is that a whore does the worst with the best. the best undress and reduce to worse than the rest. besides, all women are whores and thats a fact. at least all women with more than $11.14 in the bank. me too. shit, I should tell you what I did to get the $11.14. nothing wrong with being a whore. nothing wrong with working in a sweatshop. nothing wrong with picking cotton. nothing wrong with nothing."
This is my first foray into Dworkin's fiction, and let me say, I am a huge fan. Told through the perspective of Bertha Schneider, from childhood to 40th birthday, the new womans broken heart offers a damning portrayal of what men do to women. She begins recognizing her love for women and falls headfirst into the realities of just what this means. For her, it is easier to be with women, then with men--until it's not easy in the least.
With Dworkin's typical writing style, brusque, lowercase, and in your face, this is something you won't want to miss, especially if you like her nonfiction. She does not spare anybody, let me tell you. There's a brutality to it, one that makes your blood simmer and makes you want to recoil bac into the shadows. There are no prisoners with this one.
This is my first foray into Dworkin's fiction, and let me say, I am a huge fan. Told through the perspective of Bertha Schneider, from childhood to 40th birthday, the new womans broken heart offers a damning portrayal of what men do to women. She begins recognizing her love for women and falls headfirst into the realities of just what this means. For her, it is easier to be with women, then with men--until it's not easy in the least.
With Dworkin's typical writing style, brusque, lowercase, and in your face, this is something you won't want to miss, especially if you like her nonfiction. She does not spare anybody, let me tell you. There's a brutality to it, one that makes your blood simmer and makes you want to recoil bac into the shadows. There are no prisoners with this one.
September 9, 2014
Though I haven't officially read any of Dworkin's nonfiction yet, I believe our politics are very similar, so I expected to adore this collection of stories. It's a bit too abstract for me, though. My favorite story is the longest and the last, "The Slit."
November 7, 2017
"I have no patience with the untorn, anyone who hasn't weathered rough weather, fallen apart, been ripped to pieces, put herself back together, big stitches, jagged cuts, nothing nice, then something shines out"
What a brilliant book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it despite it being emotionally difficult, as the writing style is pretty unconventional & informal, which makes it 'fun' to read. The issues/themes discussed in the book are dealt with in a very raw and honest manner, with no effort whatsoever to avoid details that are otherwise thought of as unnecessary or revealing TMI. The two themes that are largely presented are: abusive relationships that the protagonist has, with a number of men, and that leading to her becoming androgynous & bisexual.
Women are often asked why they didn't walk out of a relationship when it becomes so clearly toxic and abusive, and these women simply do not have an answer because they really can't process what is happening in a manner that one would be expected to. The book helps us understand how physical abuse is normalised in relationships, and how victims often become emotionally numb or completely stoic at the time of abuse, and how the reaction/response to such abuse comes in much later, usually after the relationship is over. The protagonist also deals with PTSD, because of which she continues to relive those stressful moments for a significant amount of time. Her transformation into an androgyne is interesting to trace - she finds solace in women when she's being abused by her boyfriend, and her take on things like using one's sexuality to earn a meal; appropriation and denial of women's opinion; depression & mental issues a woman faces after abuse; motherhood; abortion; healing a broken-heart, is real, raw and breathtaking.
I highly recommend this one.
What a brilliant book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it despite it being emotionally difficult, as the writing style is pretty unconventional & informal, which makes it 'fun' to read. The issues/themes discussed in the book are dealt with in a very raw and honest manner, with no effort whatsoever to avoid details that are otherwise thought of as unnecessary or revealing TMI. The two themes that are largely presented are: abusive relationships that the protagonist has, with a number of men, and that leading to her becoming androgynous & bisexual.
Women are often asked why they didn't walk out of a relationship when it becomes so clearly toxic and abusive, and these women simply do not have an answer because they really can't process what is happening in a manner that one would be expected to. The book helps us understand how physical abuse is normalised in relationships, and how victims often become emotionally numb or completely stoic at the time of abuse, and how the reaction/response to such abuse comes in much later, usually after the relationship is over. The protagonist also deals with PTSD, because of which she continues to relive those stressful moments for a significant amount of time. Her transformation into an androgyne is interesting to trace - she finds solace in women when she's being abused by her boyfriend, and her take on things like using one's sexuality to earn a meal; appropriation and denial of women's opinion; depression & mental issues a woman faces after abuse; motherhood; abortion; healing a broken-heart, is real, raw and breathtaking.
I highly recommend this one.
July 30, 2013
Dworkin's best fiction.
Not recommended for those who aren't familiar with Dworkin's work in general.
Not recommended for those who aren't familiar with Dworkin's work in general.
December 9, 2015
This was a very short read but very difficult in that it was quite sadistic and sad. The writing is sort of like poetry stream of consciousness. The last two stories were the best.
February 14, 2025
beautiful and harrowing from dworkin as always, “the simple story of a lesbian girlhood” and “the slit” is some of her best fiction!!!
December 19, 2019
2.5/5.
Really sad. Not incredibly well-written. Her penchant for rejecting conventions of syntax and grammar is more irritating than poetic. The best section was the slit; that was the only part that really truly gripped me. I connected with various aspects of Bertha, but the narrator for the slit was even more palpable, perhaps because she wasn't as overblown--or maybe because she was so like Bertha and I'd grown accustomed to the damaged fauxrrior archetype Dworkin seemed to love to convey. But I suppose her characters aren't meant to beget sympathy or empathy (and yet they most definitely are).
This is sad because it's sad, and sad because it reflects many girls' and women's experiences, and sad because it's myopic, and sad because it's lacking, and sad because it overflows. Mostly it's like an oozing wound in a stranger that turns out to be paint, but the means by which the paint was obtained was incredibly painful, or so the stranger tells.
Really sad. Not incredibly well-written. Her penchant for rejecting conventions of syntax and grammar is more irritating than poetic. The best section was the slit; that was the only part that really truly gripped me. I connected with various aspects of Bertha, but the narrator for the slit was even more palpable, perhaps because she wasn't as overblown--or maybe because she was so like Bertha and I'd grown accustomed to the damaged fauxrrior archetype Dworkin seemed to love to convey. But I suppose her characters aren't meant to beget sympathy or empathy (and yet they most definitely are).
This is sad because it's sad, and sad because it reflects many girls' and women's experiences, and sad because it's myopic, and sad because it's lacking, and sad because it overflows. Mostly it's like an oozing wound in a stranger that turns out to be paint, but the means by which the paint was obtained was incredibly painful, or so the stranger tells.
February 19, 2018
I've never read something so bad, from the postmodernist hate of initial upper case, to the style itself. I know that what she's writing about is somewhat autobiographical, and that a lot of it are terrible things to happen to women, but the style itself was dense, hard to follow at times, and irritating.
Maybe Dworkin is one of these authors whose work is hit and miss, for me.
Maybe Dworkin is one of these authors whose work is hit and miss, for me.
August 25, 2023
“normalcy differed from atrocity in degree, not in kind.” (p.17)
So much of a brutal horrifying nightmare, that you keep turning the pages in disbelief until suddenly you find yourself on the last page within a day. And while that’s the experience you get with every Andrea Dworkin book, this is perhaps her best work of fiction. I wouldn’t wish the protagonist’s life or mentality on my worst enemy.
“morning broke. I mean, fell right on its goddam ass and broke. no walking barefoot if you care about yr feet, kid […]
I dont mean for this to be bitter. I dont know from bitter. its true that morning fell flat on its ass and when morning breaks its shit to
clean it up. and I dont much like sleeping either because I have technicolor dreams in which strangers try to kill me in very resourceful ways, and its true that since the ass wiggler snubbed me in the toilet
of the ritzy hotel I get especially upset when I go to pee in my own house (house here being a euphemism for apartment, room, or
hovel— as in her own shithole which she does not in any sense own,
in other words, where she hangs her nonexistent hat) and remember
that the food stamps ran out and I have $11.14 in the bank. bleak, Arctic in fact, but not bitter. because I do still notice some things I particularly like. the sun, for instance, or the sky even when the sun
isnt in it. I mean, I like it. I like trees. I like them all year long, no matter what. I like cold air. Im not one of those complainers about
winter which should be noted since so many people who pretend to love life hate winter.”
So much of a brutal horrifying nightmare, that you keep turning the pages in disbelief until suddenly you find yourself on the last page within a day. And while that’s the experience you get with every Andrea Dworkin book, this is perhaps her best work of fiction. I wouldn’t wish the protagonist’s life or mentality on my worst enemy.
“morning broke. I mean, fell right on its goddam ass and broke. no walking barefoot if you care about yr feet, kid […]
I dont mean for this to be bitter. I dont know from bitter. its true that morning fell flat on its ass and when morning breaks its shit to
clean it up. and I dont much like sleeping either because I have technicolor dreams in which strangers try to kill me in very resourceful ways, and its true that since the ass wiggler snubbed me in the toilet
of the ritzy hotel I get especially upset when I go to pee in my own house (house here being a euphemism for apartment, room, or
hovel— as in her own shithole which she does not in any sense own,
in other words, where she hangs her nonexistent hat) and remember
that the food stamps ran out and I have $11.14 in the bank. bleak, Arctic in fact, but not bitter. because I do still notice some things I particularly like. the sun, for instance, or the sky even when the sun
isnt in it. I mean, I like it. I like trees. I like them all year long, no matter what. I like cold air. Im not one of those complainers about
winter which should be noted since so many people who pretend to love life hate winter.”
November 19, 2019
You expect this book to be angry, sad and painful, and you get what you expected. I didn't really think that there are going to be broken hearts there - Andrea Dworkin doesn't seem to be the type of a girl who throws romance around. I counted more bruised faces, dead babies and bleeding insides than broken hearts. Well, well expected.
January 4, 2025
“people ask, well, dont sweet things happen? yes, indeed, many sweet things, but sweet doesnt keep you from dying, making love doesnt keep you from dying unless you get paid, writing doesnt keep you from dying unless you get paid, being wise doesnt keep you from dying unless you get paid, facts are facts, being poor makes you face facts which also does not keep you from dying.”
April 25, 2020
Interesting stories, very raw and brutal, my favorite was the last one.
April 6, 2021
intenso.
Read
December 7, 2021Very intense.
November 6, 2019
To Andrea Dworkin: I love you, I love you, I love you
September 23, 2024
none of the stories were strong enough to stand out. i don't understand why dworkin would choose to write in this style. still, there were some good quotes in the book
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews