Indelible in the Hippocampus: Writings from the Me Too Movement

by Shelly Oria (Editor), Rebecca Schiff (Contributor), Samantha Hunt (Contributor)

"Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter," said Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford when she testified to congress in September 2018 about the men who victimized her. A year earlier, in October 2017, the hashtag #MeToo shone a light on the internalized, normalized sexual harassment and abuse that'd been ubiquitous for women for generations.

Among the first books to emerge from the #MeToo movement, Indelible in the Hippocampus is a truly intersectional collection of essays, fiction, and poetry. These original texts sound the voices of black, Latinx, Asian, queer, and trans writers, to name but a few, and says "me too" 22 times. Whether reflecting on their teenage selves or their modern-day workplaces, each contributor approaches the subject with unforgettable authenticity and strength.

Together these pieces create a portrait of cultural sea-change, offering the reader a deeper understanding of this complex, galvanizing pivot in contemporary consciousness.

Featuring Kaitlyn Greenidge, Melissa Febos, Syreeta McFadden, Rebecca Schiff, Diana Spechler, Hossannah Asuncion, Nelly Reifler, Courtney Zoffness, Quito Ziegler, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Jolie Holland, Lynn Melnick, Caitlin Delohery, Caitlin Donohue, Gabrielle Bellot, Karissa Chen, Elissa Schappell, Samantha Hunt, Honor Moore, Donka Kelly, and Hafizah Geter

Genres: Feminism, Essays, Nonfiction, Poetry, Anthologies, Short Stories, Memoir

278 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2019

About the author

Shelly Oria was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Israel. Her short story collection, New York 1, Tel Aviv 0, came out from FSG and Random House Canada in November 2014. Shelly's fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney's, fivechapters, and Electric Lit's Recommended Reading among other places, and won the Indiana Review Fiction Prize, a Sozopol Fiction Seminars Fellowship in Bulgaria, and the LMCC Workspace Residency among other awards. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, curates the series Sweet! Actors Reading Writers in the East Village, has a private practice as a creativity coach, and teaches fiction at Pratt Institute, where she also co-directs the Writers' Forum.

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is beautifully written by the contributors and wonderfully put together by Shelly Oria. I think I have benefitted from reading it with a little more distance from the initial outpouring of #MeToo, as time and space has made me consider this issue and my place in it.

The contributions are wonderful - fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry which look at different aspects of the movement, including writers telling their stories, as well as commentary on the movement itself. Works like this are always difficult to read, there is so much that rings true in my mind and body that it takes time to read. This is peoples trauma, it is never easy and I applaud the contributors for sharing their stories.

[Ann Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most difficult book I think I've ever read. It took me a long time to finish reading it. I could only read bits of it at a time. So many truths of the #MeToo movement. So much trauma, so much honesty, and so many systemic issues. Writings like these have moved the topics forward for changes in our culture, but not not yet far enough. The courage, creativity, and gut-wrenching reality of the written words and stories in this book are amazing. There was only one entry that I wouldn't rate highly on its own.

It is absolutely a tough read, but absolutely well-done. I appreciate the diversity of the authors and perspectives, and approaches to the themes.

[Glennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A difficult, but important read.
Thank you to all the contributors.
Hafizah Geter & Elissa Schappel: wow,,,,there are just no words.

I need to quote Karissa Chen: "And now I will wait to see if telling this story, if putting it into words made permanent by ink and paper, will help exorcise the symptoms rushing through my body. I will wait to see if this is how we began to heal our bodies, by airing out what we have forced them to reckon with silently, protectively, alone."

June Jordan's "A Poem about my Rights": "I am not wrong/wrong is not my name"

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning collection of non-fiction, fiction, and poetry by a truly amazing group of writers. Highly recommend.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutally honest and unflinching collection fiction, non-fiction and poetry that addresses the experiences and lasting trauma of survivors of sexual assault. It's definitely a difficult read but all 23 contributions are thoroughly worthwhile and brave.

[Isabelle Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading. Similar in subject matter to ‘Her Body and other Parties’ by Carmen Elise Machado but much more intense. Definite triggers for people who have experienced any kind of sexual violence.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was difficult to read but very much needed. Reading every story knowing that there are stories alike and different that women share but no one story is ever the same truly.

[livresdelaura · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I LOVED about "Indelible In The Hippocampus: Writings from the Me Too Movement" edited by Shelly Oria:⁣
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1) This one was a collection of essays and poetry surrounding the #MeToo movement - the title inspiration coming from the testimony of Christine Blasey-Ford. Each essay gave a different experience whether it was from adolescence or outrage at work - this book will give you solace and make you angry. ⁣
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2) Though this was a difficult read at times, it was incredibly important and cathartic. ⁣
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3) I found this book to have an incredibly diverse collection of essays and authors and really spoke to how this movement has effected so many different people from all walks of life. ⁣
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This one should be required reading for anyone looking to learn more about the movement!⁣

[Kacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her Body and Other Parties helped me tremendously in 2016, this helped me on Dec 12th, and maybe after. So often this type of collection, no matter how strong, can be retraumatzing- but for some reason- maybe just my particular self- this collection felt bold and uplifting and honest.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite pieces: “Lakes” by Caitlin Delohery, “Evolutionary Theory” by Diana Spechler, “Bye, Baby” by Melissa Febos, “A Promise Obtained by Coercion is Never Binding,” by Hossannah Asuncion, “Apologia” by Donika Kelly.

[Brie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an engaging and interesting collection of essays inspired by the #MeToo movement. Definitely worth the read. I am glad I picked up this book.

[Kobi]

This was such a good read. There were so many interesting and creative and profound pieces in this collection. I'd definitely pick this up if you're a fan of Carmen Maria Machado!

[Megan Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of personal writings on the topic of sexual assault. I definitely suggest this for those who are on the outside looking in, trying to understand what being a survivor is like, or what the "big deal" is for people who relate to Christine Blasey Ford. I really think this would be an awesome book for men and boys to read, to help them understand why their and their friends' actions can be so harmful.
I don't really suggest this book for survivors or people who are close with sexual assault victims. I believe that many of the essays would be triggering instead of insightful. Additionally, I feel like this book-- and the #MeToo Movement-- had more "teeth" before Tara Reade came forward with accusations against Biden. While the forward of the book was very empowering, I do not feel that the editors of the book would rally as harshly against Biden as they did Kavanaugh. That left me feeling a little disheartened and disappointed.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is closer to a 3.5. There were writings that I absolutely enjoyed such as "Re: Your Rape Story" by Elissa Schappell, and most of them occurred in the latter half of the book. Parts of the book confused me because it felt like these #metoo activists were in part recounting their trauma, but it wasn't clear why they were doing so or at least I wasn't sure what it was for. Perhaps I'm wrong to assume that there's an end goal, because it can be therapeutic and justice-serving to be able to recount and bring attention to your testimonies but I still felt like I was very much drifting in their accounts and had no clear direction of how I was to position myself as an audience/a reader. Regardless of the overall coherency (which might also have to do with the book being an anthology), I do still believe and think that this book serves as a good and meaningful platform to showcase the diversity of #metoo accounts.

[fanni ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was one of the most difficult reading experiences i ever chose to go through. just reading one story at a time felt too much to bear at points. it filled me with incredible amounts of rage, sadness, hopelessness and physical nausea & anxiety. i cried reading almost every story — out of empathy, out of pure anger.
simultaneously, it made me feel proud of the writers for sharing their stories for themselves, for this movement and for those who cannot speak out themselves. it made me feel like i am part of something, a revolution eager to take back the control that we lost. the works are incredibly honest, vulnerable and brave. it physically pained me to keep reading, but i knew that it was an uncomfortable but deeply necessary read. as a woman, i find it to be my responsibility to hurt with these women as they would hurt with me.

[Grace Slevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly horrific and beautiful to read. So many haunting words that I will carry with me for years.

It feels incomplete to include these separately from their respective stories. however, they echo sentiments of the randomness and near inevitability of assault that hung in my mind while reading. An attack from one man makes you one of his many unlucky women. A dodged attack from a man means you will likely trade places with another woman who won’t be so lucky.

“She was counting on luck to keep her rapeless, counting on street greetings to stay greetings.” - Rebecca Schiff

“Does my escape from these men mean another woman had to take my place? A woman who couldn’t run as fast as I could?” - Samantha Hunt

All I can say is I am Honored be a part of a generation of women telling their stories and with such grace and courage.

[alexa ⭐️]

"And now I wait to see if telling this story, if putting it into words made permanent by ink and paper, will help exorcise the symptoms rushing through my body. I wait to see if this is how we begin to heal our bodies, by airing out what we have forced them to reckon with silently, protectively, alone." (Karissa Chen)

Loved this! Every story was so unique and engaging (and obviously heartbreaking and enraging). Most of these are classified as 'creative nonfiction' and I really liked that style of ""story"" telling. There's also some fiction stories and poetry sprinkled in. I liked how this wasn't trying to teach anything or wasn't clouded with statistics and such. This was simply women's stories.

*Reese Witherspoon voice*: "Women's stories matter."

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

This collection of poems, creative nonfiction, and fiction about the #MeToo movement and sexual violence is a bit of a mixed bag, but worth a read. One of my least favorite entries was the story from the editor, Oria, and I don't think she edited the collection very successfully, either. It was sometimes jarring to go from a very simplistic poem to a thoroughly-researched experimental essay. But I did really appreciate the diversity of the contributors because I worried going into it that the book would be very White Feminist in vibe.

[Pratty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bone chilling yet wonderful collection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that discusses the experiences and trauma of sexual assault survivors. Through the 23 stories, the topics of - racism, gender, patriarchy, normalization of casual harassment by boys/men, stages of transition in overcoming grief, constant fear with which women live - are explored. There were moments I had to take a break because it gets heart wrenching. A very important must read.

[Vanessa Funk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a worthwhile read - although I didn’t love all the writing styles, each story was beautifully expressed and I felt for the women who relived their worst times by putting their experiences into words and sharing with the world.

[Hayden Pyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The #metoo movement is so big and devastatingly has had so many voices contribute to it. These are a few more. All of the pieces in this collection are incredible in their own right and add to the movement as a whole.

[Juno · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a touching and profound collection that I would recommend to anyone willing to explore this subject. Beautifully written and thought provoking. The references to Philomela and the nightingale left a lasting impression on me, even years later.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent topical collection. Could have been an issue of McSweeney’s but either way, important, brave work!

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are gorgeous, brutal essays about the reality of life for women in America. An important work, and essential reading if you are studying the Me, Too Movement.

[Sara Crocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diverse writing styles and genres, interesting content, a well balanced anthology.

[Audrey Treon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Reading each authors chapter was an emotional, eye opening experience. I recommend this to everyone in my life

[aubs 🥰 · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this thoroughly

[madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

difficult read in terms of subject matter but one i would 100% recommend everyone picks up

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took my breath away

[Sara]

Such an important book, good diversity of voices, and really hard to read.