Women's words

Emphasizing the broad range of opinions on life beyond the stereotypical "women's" spheres of home and family, Mary Biggs has organized Women's Words by a diverse array of subjects you won't find in other volumes. You'll find quotations not only on education, but also on the education of children, the education of African Americans, and the education of women. Women's Words includes pronouncements not only on war, but also on the Bosnian War and on World War II. Locate the quotations you want quickly, or simply browse through the many thought-provoking entries you may not have considered before. Each quotation is accompanied by useful data on the author or speaker, her profession, the source and date, and often Biggs' informed commentary on context. Complemented by a full author index and comprehensive cross-referencing, this is the richest, most easy-to-use volume of its kind. Hundreds of well-known figures are represented here - bell hooks, Sojourner Truth, Martina Navratilova, Queen Elizabeth I, Flannery O'Connor, Golda Meir, and Mother Jones, to name just a few. Yet you'll also find equally strong voices that might otherwise have faded from memory, from a young girl's uproarious assessment of Dan Quayle's intellectual capacity to a Nepalese prostitute's moving reflection on hunger and survival. Women's Words encompasses the memorable statements of women young and old, from all corners of the globe.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.