Two Years in the Life of a Feminist: The Wondrous Rants of Laurie Stone

Simone de Beauvoir notes in the opening of All Said and Done, the fourth volume of her autobiography: “[S]ometimes I wake up with a feeling of childish amazement — why am I myself? What astonishes me, just as it sometimes astonishes a child when he becomes aware of his own identity, is the fact of finding myself here, and at this moment, deep into this life and not in any other. What stroke of chance has brought this about?”

And by what chance, after finishing de Beauvoir, are we lucky enough to be able to jump into Laurie Stone’s own explorations of self through sex (with both strangers and known quantities), film, womanhood, feminism, Sex in the City, the joys of catering, dogs (both dead and alive), life with “the man I live with,” plus the invigorating power of Nature:

“Alongside a roadside, I dug up a clump of wild rose, soaked the roots in a tub of water for several days, and planted it in the front yard. Most of the branches turned brown, but a few spindly ones retained their leaves, and after some time one of the tiny branches sprouted new leaves. It was thrilling.”

Little deaths. Little births.

Streaming Now: Postcards from the Thing that Is Happening (dottir press) is an oft-laugh-out-loud collection of Ms. Stone’s daily Facebook takes…