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I Have Devoted My Life to the Clitoris
Elizabeth Hall began writing I HAVE DEVOTED MY LIFE TO THE CLITORIS in the summer of 2010 after reading Thomas Laqueur’s Making Sex. She was particularly struck by Laqueur’s bold assertion: “More words have been shed, I suspect, about the clitoris, than about any other organ, or at least, any organ its size.” How was it possible that Hall had been reading compulsively for years and never once stumbled upon this trove of prose devoted to the clit? If Lacquer’s claim was correct, where were all these “words”? And more: what did size have to do with it? Hall set out to find all that had been written about the clit past and present. As she soon discovered, the history of the clitoris is no ordinary tale; rather, its history is marked by the act of forgetting.
ADVANCED PRAISE
In her marvelously researched and sculpted essay/memoir, Elizabeth Hall convinces me that clitoral stimulation is my birthright, a supreme act reaching back to the origins of sensation, connecting me to all my animal sisters: artist, poet, hyena, dolphin. What a thrilling world Hall constructs, her bulleted points rat-tat-tatting the patriarchy, strobing with pleasure.
— Dodie Bellamy, author of When the Sick Rule the World and Cunt Norton
The unfolding of relationships between, among many other details, Freud, terra cotta cunts, hyenas, anatomists, and Acker, mixed with a certain slant of light on a windowsill and a leg thrown open invite us into this intricately structured catalogue of clit. “I started with a question: what does the body want? And ended with: it wants.” The investigation does not stop there. Elizabeth Hall’s prose builds quietly into a denouement that is as cerebral and corporeal as it is bawdy and beautiful.
— Wendy C. Ortiz, author of Excavation: A Memoir and Hollywood Notebook
“I am never bored by a body,” says Elizabeth Hall, in this gorgeous little book about a gorgeous little organ. Hall’s restless unearthing of the clitoris’s hidden history mines discourses as varied as sexology, plastic surgery, literature and feminism to produce an eye-opening compendium, stitched together with wit, lyricism and desire. In this spirited collection of telling details and revelatory insights, the “tender button” finally gets its due.
— Janet Sarbanes, author of People of the Pancake and Army of One
“God this book is glorious. I’m so grateful to Elizabeth Hall for her devotion–scholarly and bodily– alive in this rigorous, lyrical exploration of a most under-written organ. In this far-ranging meditation and investigation, Hall moves elegantly from Marie Bonaparte to the female hyena to contemporary heroes like Kathy Acker and Holly Hughes, asking over and over again: what is it to have a body? How do we read our way into and through that body? Hall shows us how, in dizzying, thrilling detail; you will learn and laugh and wonder why it took you so long to find this book. ”
— Suzanne Scanlon, author of Her 37th Year, An Index and Promising Young Women
ADVANCED PRAISE
In her marvelously researched and sculpted essay/memoir, Elizabeth Hall convinces me that clitoral stimulation is my birthright, a supreme act reaching back to the origins of sensation, connecting me to all my animal sisters: artist, poet, hyena, dolphin. What a thrilling world Hall constructs, her bulleted points rat-tat-tatting the patriarchy, strobing with pleasure.
— Dodie Bellamy, author of When the Sick Rule the World and Cunt Norton
The unfolding of relationships between, among many other details, Freud, terra cotta cunts, hyenas, anatomists, and Acker, mixed with a certain slant of light on a windowsill and a leg thrown open invite us into this intricately structured catalogue of clit. “I started with a question: what does the body want? And ended with: it wants.” The investigation does not stop there. Elizabeth Hall’s prose builds quietly into a denouement that is as cerebral and corporeal as it is bawdy and beautiful.
— Wendy C. Ortiz, author of Excavation: A Memoir and Hollywood Notebook
“I am never bored by a body,” says Elizabeth Hall, in this gorgeous little book about a gorgeous little organ. Hall’s restless unearthing of the clitoris’s hidden history mines discourses as varied as sexology, plastic surgery, literature and feminism to produce an eye-opening compendium, stitched together with wit, lyricism and desire. In this spirited collection of telling details and revelatory insights, the “tender button” finally gets its due.
— Janet Sarbanes, author of People of the Pancake and Army of One
“God this book is glorious. I’m so grateful to Elizabeth Hall for her devotion–scholarly and bodily– alive in this rigorous, lyrical exploration of a most under-written organ. In this far-ranging meditation and investigation, Hall moves elegantly from Marie Bonaparte to the female hyena to contemporary heroes like Kathy Acker and Holly Hughes, asking over and over again: what is it to have a body? How do we read our way into and through that body? Hall shows us how, in dizzying, thrilling detail; you will learn and laugh and wonder why it took you so long to find this book. ”
— Suzanne Scanlon, author of Her 37th Year, An Index and Promising Young Women
71 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2016
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210 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 14, 2016
This is the cuntiest, most vaginal, most clitty book I have read. Hall set out to discover everything she could about the clit, and boy did she she succeed. She weaves her thorough research on the clit's history, "discovery" (though it was always there and many knew it!), repression, pains, pleasures--the way the clit has been socially constructed, cut, abused, researched--with her own experiences with porn, masturbation, and sex. This is a quick read--only about 70 pages. However, like that little nub between our lady legs, this book's size does not reflect its power.
May 4, 2016
My only "complaint" is that I wish there was MORE. I want MORE CLITORIS. In other words, go buy this book and read it. This goes for those of you who are already devoted to the clitoris and those of you who don't know where it is. And all of you who fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.
August 19, 2018
What a perfect and compact book of microessays - some essentially poems. Part scientific history into historical mentions and research on the clitoris, part literary criticism, part autobiographical snippets of self awakening.
February 1, 2018
I'm glad I asked the library to buy this book because the title is great. Otherwise I'm not overly impressed by the book - sixty pages of two line facts. It could have been better.
January 6, 2024
I wish this had been longer! And I wish there had been a stronger blend of the personal and factual.
March 11, 2020
If ever felt shame about female pleasure and anatomy, this little non fiction gem bounces throughout history in a lovely non linear way to assure you the clitoris is here for your pleasure. Highly recommend.
July 7, 2018
This was surprisingly dull to me... I think I was expecting something more personal and less...instructional and factual. Not bad though if that's what you're seeking!
July 30, 2018
Equivalent to a Netflix binge. Charming, sexy, and skillfully researched. 💯
October 27, 2018
Excellent. A must-read.
February 18, 2023
Amazing fr
May 10, 2024
A short, very quirky, very individual collection of historical facts and far more...
June 5, 2024
experimental. not for me
November 6, 2016
A fast, fascinating, whipsmart and wild read <3
October 25, 2016
Wonderful unraveling of information.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews