Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women

I first read Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America as a teenager in the 90s and was instantly eager to read more of her writing. Elizabeth Wurtzel has a unique writing style and writes excellent memoirs. Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women was her 2nd book. The book is not always easy to read, but was well worth it to me. After years of collecting dust on my shelf, I revisited the book because I remembered it had interesting details about the O.J. Simpson trial.

For example, in Part Five: Used to Love Her But I Had to Kill Her, Nicole Brown Simpson had wanted to leave O.J., but her family kept trying to convince her to stay with him and remained close to him after the divorce even though they knew all the details of abuse. Her family was more loyal to O.J. after the divorce because they relied on him for money and their careers. In Nicole's family, all of the daughters had breast implants but none had college degrees.

The book brings up a lot of women's studies issues and even if you do not agree with Wurtzel, it is a good book to read to make you think about how women are treated in society. The examples from the 90s can be compared and contrasted to examples in the headlines today.

Bitch is also a good book to read for background information before reading More Now and Again, Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir about drug addiction. Elizabeth focuses on the period after Prozac Nation was published in her second memoir, when she was dealing with addiction to cocaine while trying to complete the requirements for her book contract and complete her 2nd book before going to rehab. In More Now and Again, Elizabeth is honest and does not hide that she missed book appearances for Bitch due to drug overdoses or showed up to appearances on drugs. She describes the consequences and changes to her life as a result of drug use, her relapses and eventual success. I admire Elizabeth for being honest and not being afraid of controversy and criticism.

Interesting, recently Elizabeth has passed the bar exam and is a corporate lawyer. Congratulations Elizabeth!