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Tender Points
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
8 posts | 5 read | 5 to read
Literary Nonfiction. Women's Studies. Disability Studies. TENDER POINTS is a narrative fractured by trauma. Named after the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia, the book-length lyric essay explores sexual violence, gendered illness, chronic pain, and patriarchy through the lenses of lived experience and pop culture (Twin Peaks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, noise music, etc.). Praise for TENDER POINTS: "TENDER POINTS does precisely what people are always saying can't be done it combines a moving, distilled, literary journey with advocacy and even pedagogy, here about trauma, chronic pain, patriarchy, and more. Call it "ecriture feminine en homme," if you want (as Berkowitz does, with acid wit) but whatever you call it, this is firm, high- stakes speech speaking truth to power, radiating beauty and fierceness from its inspiring insistence and persistence." Maggie Nelson "'Trauma is nonlinear, ' writes Berkowitz. I am impressed by the sensing form she makes. That has the day in it, as well as the night. The body, that is, in variable settings, frames and weathers. The stairs that 'climb up my arms and neck.' The 'I am bitterly jealous of people who can always go back to being a barista for a while.' This book is a kind of clutching and being there for real, and that is what I like. A book. That takes up. A visceral form." Bhanu Kapil "TENDER POINTS is one of those books that feels necessary. It takes on rape culture and cops and doctors, the whole long history of who gets to speak and how, who gets heard and who doesn't and why not. I wish this book wasn't as necessary as it is, but I'm so grateful to Amy for writing it." Stephanie Young"
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blurb
StayCurious
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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My week one #Scarathlon totals were pretty good considering we had 3 family birthdays and Canadian Thanksgiving to celebrate! Having a lot of Fall fun so far! #TeamMonsterMash

bthegood yay team!! 2y
IndoorDame Awesome!!! Looks like a fun week! … One of the bingo cards in Cassandra‘s file isn‘t attributed to anyone but has a “host pick“ space. Can I get you to suggest a pick instead since you‘re hosting our games? 2y
StayCurious @IndoorDame sure! Is it for a book? 2y
48 likes4 comments
blurb
zembla
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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A more legible view of my #readingwomen2018 results, tagged with one of my favorite books I read this year and with arrows pointing to others. #readingwomen

Heideschrampf This is so impressive. Well done! 6y
zembla @Heideschrampf Aww, thank you so much! 💕 6y
11 likes2 comments
review
Caterina
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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Mehso-so

A raw and angry but at the same time stoic memoir about fibromyalgia, vulvodynia, rape, trauma, misogyny, and being a woman with an invisible chronic illness. I related to some of it, but there was far too little nuance and too much anger with too little (read: zero) hope. It also failed to come together into a cohesive whole. Overall still worth reading for me, since I'm desperate for any book that touches on life with chronic pain/illness.

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quote
Caterina
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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DeborahSmall Totally relatable. I can't shower in the family bathroom as it's a power shower, my ensuite shower can be turned down and more gentle. Living with chronic pain is a living nightmare. 💞 8y
Caterina @DeborahSmall I definitely feel that! I'm actually grateful for weak water pressure in my apartment! This semester has been a nightmare with the pain and the almost equally awful issue of chronic pain not being understood by peers, professors, or administrators. 8y
DeborahSmall I feel for you Katie, when you suffer without it being obvious to your peers it's very frustrating and causes anxiety and even depression. I've been bad for 8/9 years so was lucky enough to live through my 20's as 'normal'. Sending love and hugs 😘💞 8y
Caterina @DeborahSmall Thank you so much. It really means a lot when someone "gets it." ? 8y
19 likes4 comments
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Caterina
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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mom2bugnbee My BFF, whom I've known for 20 years, suffers from fibro. This is exactly correct. It's a horrible, horrible disease. 8y
Caterina @mom2bugnbee I've had fibro for five years, and I can attest to that as well! Best of wishes and gentle hugs to your BFF! 💛 They're lucky to have you! 8y
15 likes2 comments
blurb
Caterina
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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This just came in at my college library. I picked it up because it's a nonfiction work that touches on life with fibromyalgia, which I have. I've already read it once (it took less than two hours), and I'm going to read it a second time before assembling my thoughts. It has some sentences that really hit home, which I needed right now.
#fibromyalgia #nonfiction #chronicpain #chronicillness

review
btrillz
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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Pickpick

This book was a short and easy but overwhelming read. It takes you through a journey of chronic pain and the invisibility that comes with it in a way that makes any reader able to relate to the book.

MrBook Interesting... 8y
2 likes1 comment
review
mhippo
Tender Points | Amy Berkowitz
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Mehso-so

Read, fittingly, on a sick day. Vindicating and troubling. Demands questions and answers about pain, misogyny, violence, memory, and the many intersections encountered in life with a disability.