PositiveThe BafflerIf you orgasm in public, can you reach a higher plane of spiritual bliss? Perhaps—or at least that was the promise of OneTaste, a wellness start-up that promulgated the practice of \'orgasmic meditation\' ... Building on her Bloomberg Businessweek exposé \'The Dark Side of the Orgasmic Meditation Company,\' Huet’s thoroughly researched book recounts the history of OneTaste and details how allegations of abuse tarnished the group’s reputation, leading to an FBI investigation and the eventual conviction of former CEO Nicole Daedone and CFO Rachel Cherwitz in July of this year on forced labor conspiracy charges ... Huet avoids pandering or mocking the organization’s followers, who were drawn in by OneTaste’s straightforward ethos of \'connection, intimacy, belonging, and purpose,\' but she does not shy away from how the sexual utopia quickly turned into a workplace nightmare ... Huet details the scope of sexual abuse allegations and does so with a clinical objectivity that accepts the testimony of her former OneTaste informants. However, more could have been done to explore how self-interest, greed, and latent sexism in countercultural groups can intensify sexual exploitation ... Empire of Orgasm made me wonder how we can foster a space where orgasms happen without exploitation or abuse. While it’s not Huet’s job to answer that, I hope society can find creative ways for people to climax freely and with dignity.
RaveThe New RepublicWe have a glimpse of a group that feels genuine: born of off-screen relationships, inflected with politics without falling into formality or righteous monologue ... There are certain templates for the novel of female friendship, and with The Wilderness, Flournoy has broken with them ... Flournoy’s kaleidoscopic view feels true to our times ... Flournoy demonstrates a keen awareness of how class and career shape friendships ... A somber yet emotional arc ... Flournoy’s depiction of resistance from within the city’s encampments and the immigrant community feels prophetic ... [There is] a problem with the elliptical narration ... Flournoy manages to specifically highlight Black experiences while also expressing the universality of those experiences.
Leslie Jamison
PositiveThe NationJamison weaves a story of marital friction and motherly love that is as much about the world as it is a reflection on the self ... I couldn’t help but think that the class dimension of Jamison’s story needed to be explained.
Shannon Sanders
MixedThe Washington PostSanders grapples with...relationship issues, to varying degrees of success, in her debut short-story collection ... Straightforward ... The book excels when the prose is subtle and lean ... However, there are times when the language can be wooden, or where the rapport between characters feels pedestrian ... wondered if Company would have been more potent as a lengthier opus, interwoven with the hyper-precise rhythms of each person or generation. Nevertheless, Company shows the frayed edges of friendship and family, and Sanders extracts comedy from the formidable situations that erupt in people’s lives — divorce, financial struggle, aging, death and childlessness. Whether chosen or biological, who we consider family can shape how we cope with drama.
