A Fragile Union: New and Selected Writings

by Joan Nestle

A Fragile Union is the long-awaited collection from feminist historian Joan Nestle. Nestle explores the “fragile unions” of contemporary lesbian life, both personal and historic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Lesbian, LGBT, Essays, Queer, Feminism, Butch Femme

230 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 1998

About the author

Joan Nestle writes and edits essays, erotic fiction, poetry, and short stories. She is an activist, and among many actions has co-founded the Lesbian Herstory Archives to preserve records of lesbian lives and communities and currently coordinates the Women in Black protests against Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.

Reviews

[lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

a beautiful and worthwhile read, picked up by chance at the book mill! my first encounter with nestle's writing and i was stunned by her tenderness & sense of dyke erotics, as well as her considerate recollections of encounters with gay men, queer theory, and the medical establishment. looking forward to reading more of her work!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked a lot of things about this book, especially the discussions of butch/femme relationships and the uneasy alliances between feminism and lesbians, and between lesbians and trans women. Nestle's focus on class and being poor and a feminist is also worthwhile, and her discomfort with some forms of postmodern and intersectional feminisms is kind of ironic; she had survived the 50's and 60's as an out lesbian and struggled with third-wave feminists who'd never been kicked out of a bar. Speaking of that divide, the weakest parts of the book are when she gets out of her lyrical memoirist style and uses feminist theory which is often just bad writing. The erotica in the last 20 pages is pretty intense.

[Mills College Library]

818.5409 N468f 1998