'I write from the realms of the ugly,for the ugly,the frigid,the unfucked and the unfuckables,all those excluded from the great meat market of female flesh,and for all those guys who don't want to be protectors,for those who would like to be but don't know how,for those who are not ambitious,competitive,or well-endowed. Because this ideal of the seductive white woman constantly being waved under our noses - well,I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist.'
Powerful,provocative and personal,King Kong Theory is a candid account of how the author of Baise-moi came to be Virginie Despentes. Drawing from personal experience,Despentes shatters received ideas about rape and prostitution,and explodes common attitudes towards sex and gender. King Kong Theory is a manifesto for a new punk feminism,reissued here in a brilliant new translation by Frank Wynne.
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo EditionsISBN: 9781913097349Dimensions: 197 x 125 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'I can think of almost no book I've enjoyed in recentyears as much asKing Kong Theory- in part for its content,in part for the ferocity of its style. In a world that continuesto have difficulty contending with sex work,porn,class,and sexual violence without resorting to tired tropes,Virginie Despentes offers a fresh,necessary,inspiringpath forward,just as she has been doing for decadesnow in a variety of media. This book is a classic,and I'm so grateful for it.'-Maggie Nelson,author ofThe Argonauts
'I loveKing Kong Theory. It's a fuck-you push-back againsta blood-sucking patriarchal culture that keeps murderingand raping women till they get the idea (the survivors,ha)that they should be stupidly grateful to serve men,justlucky to even be allowed to play. This is liberatory galloping prose,inhale it now and if you've read it before read itagain in this new jangling translation,ornery and alive likewe need to be. This short fiery book is essential.'-Eileen Myles,author ofChelsea Girls
'In the dire age of corporatized and sanitised feminism,King Kong Theoryis the radical - and darkly funny -manifesto we need.'-Amelia Abraham,author ofQueer Intentions
'Despentes is often described as a "rock-and-roll"Balzac...She also resembles,by turns,William Gibson,GeorgeEliot and Michel Houellebecq,with a sunnier attitude.'-Chris Kraus,author ofI Love Dick
'Part-memoir,part-critical treatise on masculinity andpower,with reference to rape,pornography,and prostitution,King Kong Theoryis the kind of book you want to placein the hands of everyone you know. It is arresting from thevery first lines; there's something aggressively incantatoryabout it,a kind of battle-rap braggadocio.'-Lauren Elkin,Harper's
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