In her final memoir, Gloria Steinem offers a candid, inspiring portrait of her early life and journey as an activist, while looking ahead to the next chapters of the fight for equality—a rare opportunity to learn directly from one of feminism’s most enduring voices.
An Unexpected Life reads, maybe presciently, as a nudge to younger generations to keep up the good fight, to notice the wins where they happen, and to not get discouraged ... anyone already unimpressed by Steinem’s support of neoliberal men won’t be thrilled by the few pages in the book where she compares Ronald Reagan unfavorably to Bill Clinton, who she says 'brought his habit of empathy into political life' ... When women like Steinem die, we lose a leader of an unwieldy movement that we still desperately need. We’re left here trying to do the work in her absence. The grief is hard to fight off, but the best way to read Steinem’s final words is the way she wanted you to: with hope for the future.
It's a cracking backstory ... These periods of her life are well documented. What I found interesting in the book were Steinem’s asides about the cost of pursuing the life she chose ... As we enter the post-Steinem era – a statement that seems outlandish, given the length and ardour of her service – it’s a pleasure, simply, to spend time in her company, and her role as an elder is one she takes seriously.
