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Manifesto: On Never Giving Up
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About This Book
From the bestselling and Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo's memoir of her own life and writing, and her manifesto on unstoppability, creativity, and activism Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker Prize win was a historic and revolutionary occasion, with Evaristo being the first Black woman and first Black British person ever to win the prize in its fifty-year history. Girl, Woman, Other was named a favorite book of the year by President Obama and Roxane Gay, was translated into thirty-five languages, and has now reached more than a million readers. Evaristo's astonishing nonfiction debut, Manifesto, is a vibrant and inspirational account of Evaristo's life and career as she rebelled against the mainstream and fought over several decades to bring her creative work into the world. With her characteristic humor, Evaristo describes her childhood as one of eight siblings, with a Nigerian father and white Catholic mother, tells the story of how she helped set up Britain's first Black women's theatre company, remembers the queer relationships of her twenties, and recounts her determination to write books that were absent in the literary world around her. She provides a hugely powerful perspective to contemporary conversations around race, class, feminism, sexuality, and aging. She reminds us of how far we have come, and how far we still have to go. In Manifesto, Evaristo charts her theory of unstoppability, showing creative people how they too can visualize and find success in their work, ignoring the naysayers. Both unconventional memoir and inspirational text, Manifesto is a unique reminder to us all to persist in doing work we believe in, even when we might feel overlooked or discounted. Evaristo shows us how we too can follow in her footsteps, from first vision, to insistent perseverance, to eventual triumph.
Reviews
"It's a good example of the way Evaristo can write about a heavy subject thoughtfully yet conversationally ..."
"the most striking feature of this moving and enjoyable book is her fearless openness in the face of these struggles."
"I found it very moving to read about the affirmations she wrote for herself and how these applied both to work and love – both appeared to have worked out for her, in spades."
"both a candid account of how it felt to grow up as the child of a biracial marriage in a racist British society and a refreshingly honest portrait of the highs and lows of the artistic existence ..."
"She lays bare the nuts and bolts of her writing process; pushes back against sexism, racism, and ageism; and imparts her hard-won wisdom unapologetically and with refreshing nuance ..."
"Characterized by the resilience of its author, it is replete with stories about the communities and connections Evaristo has cultivated over forty years ..."
"offers unalloyed insights into the making of a writer, illuminating the artistic journey of the author in an important and refreshing perspective on publishing and creativity in Britain in the last 40 years ..."
"This personal reflection allows Evaristo to delve into an incisive analysis of class and race in the United Kingdom ..."
"Her unconventional path is laid out here in breezy prose ..."
"Fans of Evaristo's work will discover in Manifesto the passionate core of this unstoppable force in 21st-century literature ..."
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