Publishers Weekly
08/07/2023
Feminist scholar Ahmed (Complaint!) delves into popular culture, literature, and philosophy in this fervent manifesto. Arguing that feminists must embrace a “feminist killjoy” ethos (a reference to the way feminists are often perceived as scolds and spoilsports), she draws on the work of theorists, activists, and poets—including Roxane Gay, Angela Davis, and Adrienne Rich—to reconstruct the negative archetype as an empowering ideal. She provides guidance for feminist killjoy activism, citing as an example her own support for students who lodged sexual harassment complaints at the University of London, where she worked, leading to her resignation in 2016. Through a process of analytical inquiry, Ahmed defines numerous “killjoy truths” (“if happiness requires turning away from violence, happiness is violence”; “discomfort reveals worlds”), which are gathered in a section at the end of the book. She writes with conviction and dedication, and while the narrative’s framework is theoretical (deploying such terms as “affect aliens” and “exteriority”), Ahmed brings impressive clarity to a field of study that is often opaque in the hands of others. Admirers of Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts should take note. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
The Feminist Killjoy Handbook is clearly helpful instruction. It is a book you can learn from: Here, in its pages, is your community and networks...To be a feminist killjoy, in other words, means celebrating a different kind of joy, a joy that comes from doing critical damage to what damages and knowing that by doing so, far from merely negating the world, one is making a world full of creativity, collaboration, company, equality, freedom, justice, and solidarity. It is also, in this book, a way of taking language by the hand to join a joyful and lucid struggle against injustice.” —The Nation
“Feminist books often encourage us to make the world a more just place, but without offering us the tools to navigate the inevitable pushback that we will likely encounter. Thankfully, Sara Ahmed’s The Feminist Killjoy Handbook provides the latter. Simultaneously inspiring and practical—a wonderful guide for becoming a more powerful and thoughtful social justice activist in everyday situations.”—Julia Serano, author of Whipping Girl
“The Feminist Killjoy Handbook is a fun read when you are the feminist killjoy. I enjoyed the act of naming so many of my experiences at family dinners, work, and in my childhood friend-group texts. I think other feminist killjoys will appreciate the survival notes given so generously. But most importantly, it names the violence that is known to happen behind closed doors and the bravery it takes to speak up in intimate relationships. I highly recommend this book to feminist killjoys and even those quiet feminists teetering on embracing the killjoy label. This book will serve as a guide I wish I’d had when I started this journey.”—Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, author of For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts
“Odd and exciting to let out a shout as one reads a book of theory, theory written for and about the ordinary outrages that demand a feminist response. This book releases a sound that emerges from the full diaphragm, a life force held in check for too long. Ahmed moves from scene to scene with clarity, rage, and joy, building through each refrain to mark the brutal violence of everyday encounters and to show us what a life-affirming response can be. Ahmed thinks in the middle of rage, never letting go of the possibility of joyful resistance, writing, turning over what she just wrote, showing how ‘obstinacy’ is one form for the desire to survive. And yet, throughout, the humility of this brilliant feminist thinker shines through. This book is a great gift, enormously important for overcoming this vicious trans/feminist divide, showing how anti-racism and the struggle for disability rights is central to feminist and queer thinking and politics.”
—Judith Butler, author of Gender Trouble
“This book arms readers with a sense of vital energy, often lost due to burnout, compassion fatigue, and microaggressions. Audiences curious about navigating the intersection between feminism and daily life, intellectualism, poetry, and activism will love this title.” —Library Journal
“In this fervent manifesto, Ahmed brings impressive clarity to a field of study often opaque in the hands of others. Admirers of Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts should take note.”—Publishers Weekly
“Feminist and social activists are certain to find the book encouraging. A good reminder that the work of activists is often challenging yet important.”—Kirkus
“At a time when social change is urgently needed, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook provides sharp and usable tools for readers who have been made to feel isolated, insignificant and difficult. It is a generous offering from an important theorist, and highly recommended.” —Irish Times
“Sara Ahmed’s ongoing project of platforming and protecting the feminist killjoy remains vital and refreshing.”—Zora Simic, Inside Story (AU)
“Sara Ahmed’s profound reflection on the feminist killjoy is in fact a joyous experience for folks who understand the impact of the trivializing, displacement, and erasure of our anti-racist feminist commitments. The Feminist Killjoy Handbook (not a “how to” but a “living as a feminist” handbook) connects anti-racist feminists across generations and teaches us that living a feminist life/being a feminist killjoy is a joyful and collective form of resistance that is capacious enough to include us all. A moving and brilliant book that belongs in our libraries, homes, classrooms, and social movements.”—Chandra Talpade Mohanty, author of Feminism Without Borders
“Sara Ahmed's work has long been the touchstone for feminist scholars like me, so I am delighted that she has brought together her most powerful ideas from nearly a quarter century of publishing to the non-academic reader. The Feminist Killjoy Handbook is exactly what we need: a cogent, powerful, practical guide to understanding our world and changing it for the better with our every interaction, and every day. This is the book I shall be pressing into the hands of every woman I care about for years to come. An absolute must read!”
—Sunny Singh, London Metropolitan University
“Sara Ahmed’s The Feminist Killjoy Handbook is a down and dirty, ground-level primer on how the job of taking back feminism from technocrats can be accomplished.”—Rafia Zakaria, author of Against White Feminism
“Yes. This book should be in your hands, because it changes what we can do with our hands. Outstretched in collaboration, extended as a fence, raised in fists of protest, intertwined with visionary grace. Maybe you will even write on your hand to remember: after reading this book we have new possibilities for what our hands can mean.” —Alexis Pauline Gumbs, author of Undrowned
“Sara Ahmed's Feminist Killjoy Handbook is not only a dazzling analysis of the workings of sexism, but a balm for the soul. Ahmed's insight that being a feminist is being a killjoy is as consoling as it is revelatory. It makes sense of the bad atmosphere, the uncomfortable feelings that swirl around feminism; it gives you ballast in the storm. Read it. Give it to everyone.It will teach you how to survive and how to transform the world.”
—Hannah Dawson, King’s College, London
“The iconic feminist Killjoy Sara Ahmed rides her horse, stands her ground, speaks her truth in this mighty little book. Her powerful words blaze a trail of tough love honed-in the saddle of real life. Armed with the gift of her wisdom, a new generation of Black and brown Killjoys will have the weapons to outwit the tyranny of white supremacist heteropatriarchy - subverting its machinations to define our minds and bodies with our collective Killjoy voice.”
—Heidi Safia Mirza, University College, London
“Being the killjoy is often a joy unto itself, and Ahmed shows us how to embrace it in all its liberatory glory.” —Ms. Magazine, Best Books of 2023
Library Journal
★ 09/01/2023
Independent scholar Ahmed's (Living a Feminist Life) latest book combines her signature humor—bitingly funny, in this case—with accessible language and theoretical discourse, making this title as appropriate for university courses as it is for self-identified "feminist killjoys," people who point out sexist comments or don't laugh at offensive jokes. This book explores the historical origins of the killjoy through truths about perceptions; for example, if someone has to shout to be heard, that person is heard as shouting. Readers will gain a clearer sense of why their activism is consistently treated as a problem, rather than a solution, and it will demonstrate what it means to show up—even when society may view that as getting in the way. The book includes details about the author's own experiences as a queer feminist scholar and activist of color. Ahmed also incorporates recommended readings and the work of activists like Audre Lorde without ever becoming too esoteric. VERDICT This book arms readers with a sense of vital energy, often lost due to burnout, compassion fatigue, and microaggressions. Audiences curious about navigating the intersection between feminism and daily life, intellectualism, poetry, and activism will love this title.—Emily Bowles
Kirkus Reviews
2023-06-28
A guide to being an uncompromising feminist in today’s world.
In her latest work, British Australian writer and scholar Ahmed, author of Living a Feminist Life, offers a guide to thriving as a feminist. A feminist killjoy, also known as a “buzzkill, miserabilist, party pooper, wet blanket, dampener, and spoilsport,” is someone who speaks out and calls for change in response to sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or racist comments. “My aim,” she writes, “is not to rescue us from the feminist killjoy but to give her a voice,” and she hopes to help those “fighting against inequalities and injustices of many kinds.” Throughout, Ahmed shares her experiences as a queer female feminist of color as well as stories that others have shared with her, with a particular focus on the responses and types of push back commonly encountered. As the author points out, as feminist killjoys, “we learn about the world from what comes back at us because of what we say or do.” Ahmed also references and analyzes literature and films that have inspired her and help illustrate her points. Among the survival tips she shares with fellow feminist killjoys are surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, knowing that you are not always responsible for how you are received, and remembering that there is only so much you can do. As a supplement, Ahmed also includes her collection of killjoy maxims, recommended further reading, and reading group discussion questions for the book. The author notes that she was strongly influenced by Black writer and feminist Audre Lorde and references her works extensively throughout the guide. Although Ahmed makes strong and relatable points, her writing is wordy and repetitive at times. Regardless, feminist and social activists are certain to find the book encouraging.
A good reminder that the work of activists is often challenging yet important.
