"I have a very scary feeling Susie Bright is not making any of this up. "Guns, drugs, threesomes, socialist factionalism, a stabbing . . . all before she got her G.E.D.?"

— Alison Bechdel

My new memoir is called BIG SEX LITTLE DEATH.

Here's  a "sneak peek" you can read right now, about my high school years, and you can also check out the Introduction, about the strange case of women's memoirs.

I can't wait to hear what you think of it! — it's been three years in the making. I'd be honored if you'd review it anywhere, so be sure to send me your take on it all.

"Susie Bright is a one-woman counterculture, a teenaged socialist revolutionary turned Reagan-era sexual freedom fighter.

"In this bittersweet memoir, she recounts a life full of political and erotic adventures and betrayals, a life at once deeply subversive and totally American, defined as it is by the idea that people should be free to express and pursue their own visions of happiness, no matter how uncomfortable it makes the prigs and scolds among us."

— Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and Election

"Bright's thoughtful, juicy and fast-paced memoir is an honest look at a life dedicated to social justice, to hilarity, to living somewhere outside the mainstream, to sexual adventure."

San Francisco Chronicle, "Best Books of 2011" 

"You’d think that a memoir by a founder of the pioneering sex-positive lesbian magazine On Our Backs and author of the “Susie Sexpert” column would be all about sex (and there’s that title). Sex there is, but Bright’s account of a peripatetic childhood, of teenage radicalism, of labor organizing and, latterly, of contented motherhood is much more than a trip down orgasm lane."

Richard LaBonte, Book Marks: My 10 Favorite Fiction Reads of 2011

"Susie Bright is the Emma Goldman of our time."

 Michael Simmons, LA Weekly

"Bright emerges as a bona fide American pioneer."

Mercury News

"BSLD delivers entertaining and influential political/sexual revolution."

Lorena Jane Estes, Vanity Fair

"An honest look at a life dedicated to social justice, to hilarity, to living somewhere outside the mainstream, to sexual adventure."

 San Francisco Chronicle

"Rollicking, Vibrant!"

Rebecca Adler, MORE

"An essential accounts of the 1970s. Bright’s book reminds us that sexual liberation was part of the other movements against international war and racism. Big Sex, Little Death isn’t non-stop concupiscence. Rather, it’s the memoir of an ardent revolutionary in all fields, trying to redeem what people had been cheated out of in their lives—including their sex lives."

"Deliciously radical."

Ariel Gore, Psychology Today

"Sensitive, insightful, and beautifully written."

Bethany Clement, The Stranger

"Heady, hilarious, heartbreaking."

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, The SF Bay Guardian

"Susie is…a racounteur and just as rambunctious as you would expect."

 Wallace Baine, Santa Cruz Sentinel 

"One of the bravest and sharpest sex writers of our time."

Tracy Clark Flory, Salon

"How does a cocky woman write such a ballsy memoir?"

Elissa Bassist, The Daily Rumpus

"The subject matter is compelling, of course, but it's her prose style that's extraordinary. Bright's always had her way with words, but here she seems to be in a whole different ballgame. So many dramatic moments— some heartbreaking, some sexy, some white-hot with anger."

Kevin Killian, SPD

‎"Shakespearean-level drama complete with knives and bombs."

Mike Fleming, ProjectQAtlanta

"Reading Bright is the equivalent of seeing her at your local farmers market wearing 'This is what sex-positive feminist looks like' t-shirt.This is a good thing."

Elissa Strauss, Alternet

"The stories she tells are dramatic, violent, passionate— but it’s the writing here that is the most stunning."

Rachel Kramer Bussel, SexIs

"Characteristically frank, often startling."

Sarah Terez-Rosenblum, Chicago Sun-Times

"Susie Bright has had a storied life and career as a sex educator; Big Sex, Little Death details her early life and adolescence as a sexually forthright young woman who became a member of the International Socialists, labor organizer, poet, writer and, eventually, a founding editor of On Our Backs, the first female-run magazine."

Yasmin Nair, Windy City Times

"Sexual enlightenment and courage in the face of criticism."

The Los Angeles Times

"Sex. Drugs. Rock and roll. If that were the whole story of BSLD, it would be enough. But this brilliant memoir is much more."

Joan Price, Better Than I Ever Expected: Sex and Aging

"Titillating, arousing and salacious are words not normally ascribed to a writer’s memoir, unless, of course, that writer happens to be Susie Bright."

Larry Mantle, Airtalk, KPCC

"Susie Bright's real life is just as compelling—more compelling—than her sex life. And that's saying something.”

 —Dan Savage

“I have a very, very scary feeling Susie Bright is not making any of this up. Guns, drugs, threesomes, socialist factionalism, a stabbing…all before she got her G.E.D.? Susie’s picaresque adventures en route from nerdy child of divorced academics to teenage Trotskyist to the fearless sexual revolutionary we all know and love will leave you breathless. And I guarantee you’ll never look at *Wage Labor and Capital* quite the same again.”

 —Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

 "Susie is a national treasure. Big Sex Little Death is subtle, hot, enthralling, raw and tender.  Just like her."  

 —Josh Marshall, Editor and Publisher, Talking Points Memo

"Susie Bright is a one-woman counterculture, a teenaged socialist revolutionary turned Reagan-era sexual freedom fighter. In this lively, bittersweet memoir, she recounts a life full of political and erotic adventures and betrayals, a life at once deeply subversive and totally American, defined as it is by the idea that people should be free to express and pursue their own visions of happiness, no matter how uncomfortable it makes the prigs and scolds among us."

 —Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children, The Abstinence Teacher

"Lusty. Outspoken. Unapologetic. Susie Bright’s life is a Molotov cocktail wrapped in leopard print, a star-spangled call to political action, and a rousing paean to the pleasures of the body. Her riveting chronicle urges us to seize life by the balls, and to savor our freedom. Bright’s voice is necessary and galvanizing."

—Rachel Resnick, author of Love Junkie

“Inspiring and prophetic. Bright balances her way along the tightrope between Big Sex and Little Death with considerable honesty, wit, and empathy.”

—Paul Krassner, author of Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut 

“Susie’s memoir grabbed me and brought me way close-up to a period of time that's only been covered from the outside— perhaps explained by a man or two—  but not written from the deep-pink inside of an awesome giant girl brain like hers.“

—Jill Soloway, playwright, screenwriter, Six Feet Under. United States of Tara

"I want to tell you your book is brilliant— a thousand kinds of harrowing. You have a masterpiece."

 — Legendary Author Who Must Remain Off the Record, But It's Nice to Have A Secret Anyway

“Revolutionaries don’t look good on actuarial tables,” says Santa Cruz’s Susie Bright, but her own survival is a tribute to her strength, eclecticism and honesty. Maybe a revolutionary defies the insurance companies’ odds if she has enough of a sense of humor.

excerpt from story by Richard von Busack, Santa Cruz Weekly

[Bright and writer and columnist Rachel Kramer Bussel have...released a new book called Best Sex Writing 2012.] Among the nearly two dozen contributors is Bright’s “Why Lying about Monogamy Matters” is one of them. The anthology digests reports on the Slut Walk protest, on sex in old age (if you count 66 as an old age) and the problems of selling sex or buying it.

There's an essay on sex in the Navy in the pre-don’t ask, don’t tell days, an essay on guys who like fat chicks and a chronicle on what was lost when the NYC’s meat-packing district got gentrified. And writer Greta Christina proposes that “atheists do it better.”

This-here atheist does the best he can. But will the cry of “Oh, nothing! Oh, my nothing!” replace the more common horizontal shout-out to God?

Bright notes, “I'm a recovering Irish Catholic-turned-atheist who will always relish taking the Lord's name in vain in moments of rage and passion. Call me quaint. What I don't miss is believing I'm going to burn in hell for any of it.”

Bright describes her collaborator on Best Sex Writing 2012 thusly: “Rachel is a beloved feminist sex writer and editor, who's nearly singlehandedly responsible for the Internet cupcake craze. Yes, really. I became friends with Rachel years ago because we shared a mutual fascination with the young Monica Lewinsky. It necessitated further discussion.”

Bright’s 2011 memoir Big Sex, Little Death was a book to put next to Carolyn See’s Dreaming and Phoebe Gloeckner’s Diary of a Teenage Girl: essential accounts of the 1970s. Bright’s book reminds us that sexual liberation was part of the other movements against international war and racism. Big Sex, Little Death isn’t non-stop concupiscence. Rather, it’s the memoir of an ardent revolutionary in all fields, trying to redeem what people had been cheated out of in their lives—including their sex lives.

Bright made all the right enemies, from Andrea Dworkin to the KKK. When she was organizing for unions in Kentucky, the Klan broke into her apartment in Louisville, leaving a threatening sign: “Nigger-Loving Communist Cunt!”

And Bright’s memoir Big Sex, Little Death has the algebra of the stuff that shortens revolutionary lives:  excoriation, public drama and inevitably, the social reaction itself, that dismal crippled turkey trot of social progress: one step forward, two steps back.

As the rise of the lovely and talented Rick Santorum shows, the puritans never really go away. Says Bright, “The GOP's slut-baiting strategy is the last resort of losers—not to mention scoundrels. Unfortunately, the religious crusaders the GOP employed for this election fodder are not Astroturf.” (Which is to say they’re not created from the top down, as was the Tea Party movement.)

“Cynical Limbaugh and Fox News may have emboldened them, but the fundamentalists honestly don't give a hang about any of these candidates. They are on a crusade.”

Bright got sustenance in her last year on the road touring with her memoir.

“It was like being Woody Guthrie with a clit,” Bright said. “Detroit, East St. Louis, Atlanta, Baltimore, the Mexican and Canadian border territories. I did not have to articulate ‘class warfare’ to anyone. I was greeted with open arms by the walking wounded who, to their credit, would still rather ball than kill.”

....But there are signs of progress. On her Canadian trip, Bright got good news. The Ontario parliament took the step of legalizing many realistic business practices of prostitution-- like running a lawful brothel, hiring a security guard or a tax accountant. Please recall that “Toronto the Good” was a town where they used to close curtains on the department stores to discourage Sabbath-day window shopping.

Said Bright, “It’s a standoff between the moralistic hand-wringing crowd versus those congratulating themselves for being so cool. But underneath the titillating headlines, this sex work decision is the most important North American labor ruling in decades since the PATCO affair—only this time with a happy ending!”

full story at Santa Cruz Weekly

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I was humbled by my fellow guests: Authors  Mike Sacks and Beth Lisick, poet Matthew Dickman, and musical guest, David Bazan-- talk about love at first sight. The producer Robyn Tenenbaum...  takes the cake. I'd rather be interviewed by Courtenay than anyone in broadcasting.

The audience writes a haiku on the show during the performance, and the best one gets to be read onstage by its author at the end. There's an onsite illustrator who draws the whole damn show as it's happening... are you starting to get the idea how great this is?  Stop reading me and start listening to them. You don't have to live in Portland, it podcasts live everywhere.

1  Are there any things that you did for the first time last year?

a) It was my first full year living without my daughter.

b) Finished a memoir.

c) Learned how to make a cocktail from the ground up.

d) Traveled to Italy for the first time, Spoke Italian, Was Understood.

2  Did you have any New Year's resolution and did you act upon them?

I remember thinking, "I going to finish editing the memoir by March 1, and it's good, so no fake fretting or being coy about it."  

Fill-your-shoes sort of thing. 

3  Did someone close to you give birth to a child?

Marla gave birth to her first child in November. Her husband Ryan called us from the hospital at 4AM, when she was close to delivery. It was thrilling to go there before dawn with coffee for him and the nurses. I told him we felt like "Braxton-Hicks" grandparents.

4  Did someone close to you die?

Yeah, a few. Older mentors are checking out, and some of my peers are starting to go "poof." 

A number of my elders in early erotic and independent movies passed away; often without notice. I want to write more about that in 2011.

5 Which countries did you travel to?

Canada, England, France, Italy, and crazy rich Monaco.

6  What do you wish for in 2011 that you missed this year?

"Do you wish you would die?"

"No. It's foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these."

— The Road

7  What days of 2010 will you remember?

The moments I was alone, printing out the final manuscript of Big Sex Little Death, putting the manuscript in an envelope and posting it to publisher—  content-ment.

Completing the Sex Journal. Celebrating the "4th Amendent Please--No Strip Searching Young Women for Advil" case win with the ACLU Drug Reform Project. Going to see Meryl from Tuneyards at the Crepe Place and dancing on top of the bar so I could see her.

Having a Chadburn at Martin's brand new Smuggler's Cove. Going with Kate Moses to the last session of the Food Memoir class. Meeting Karen Sallowitz and rolfing.

Running with Kathy and friends on many many beautiful mornings, counting all the baby rabbits at Wilder Ranch. Holding my breath through Aretha's Shocking Tales from the California State University system.

Laughing my ass off as a sitting judge at the San Francisco Literary Death Match. Publishing 10 years of Audible audio show archives. Being in Europe with my grownup baby, seeing all our old friends from when she was a toddler, the toddlers now towering over us, transcending language. Hiking the Nietzsche Trail. He is said to have written his treatise on the nonexistence of God after he climbed this path from the mountains to the sea and back. Would Nietzsche have taken the bus? No!

Getting hit, knnecapped by a car and fleeing the "crime scene" to walk into my publisher's sales conference: "I have to give this talk, I don't care if I'm in a coma." Ask for an icebag and the proverbial mike. (Accidents provide great adrenaline for making speeches).

Taking guerilla photos with Jill and Becky and Jon at the Albany Bulb.

8  Your biggest success in 2010?

Witnessing Aretha's 20th year.

Holding the frame— in fact, post-driving the frame.

9  And your worst failure?

Panicking over shit I don't respect in the first place.

10  Any injuries or diseases?

Use it or lose it, protect it or lose it. Heredity and the nation's public health policies weighed in more than I would have liked.

11  What's the best thing you bought in 2010?

My iPad and the things that came along with it-- all the books I read, all the obscure movies I watched.

My wool fingerless gloves, my red Duofold union suit.

Chartreuse was very special, I'll remember that.

The plane tickets to faraway lands— how can I forget!

My handlebars for my bicycle which feel, like Goldilocks' delight, just right.

12  Any people that deserve special praise this year?

The many many people in my life who displayed True Grit.

13  Anyone whose actions shocked and frustrated you?

The end of "What We Think of As America" shouldn't shock me, but it does, because I was raised in its great soft mud.

14  What did you spend most of your money for?

The most pedestrian of bills. Health care. Health care insurance premiums. Getting rid of those certainly saved a lot of money.

15  What really pissed you off?

 See my 2010 blog for details.

16  What song will always remind you of 2010?

Fire - Tuneyards

17  In contrast to January 2010 you're now....
 

Sadder or happier? 

Given my mercury, I'd say I am simply more cautious.
 

Thicker or thinner? 

Same, but with more gravity.
 

Richer or poorer? 

In wisdom? Oh, much richer.

18  What would you've liked to do more often?

 Singing and humming.

19  And less often?

 Contemplating worst-case scenarios. I should've hummed a little instead.

20  Did you fall in love in 2010?

 With poetry, yes. 

21  How many one-night-stands?

 Discretion is the only part of valor.

22  What was your favorite TV show?

 Mad Men, Matthew Weiner's stories.

23  Do you despise anything that you didn't mind before?

 Broken telephones, broken systems, broken everything. The lost art— and apparently the lost education— of making things and doing things that last. The legacy-lessness.

24  What was the best book you read?

I read lots of good authors this year; I have to make a list.

But this question has an oddball meaning for me. I've spent the last few months reading every book aloud that I've ever written, for an audiobook project. —Books I wrote when I was 23, or when I was pregnant, or when I was living as an ex-pat, and when I was making a new home, my most recent memoir.

It was wilder than The Giant Dipper.

25  What's the best music you discovered this year?

 Peter Mulvey, Tuneyards, Pomplamousse, my missing cuts from the Harold and Maude soundtrack, my Tom Waits "Channel" on Pandora, rediscovering the Elvis Comeback Special. The Monterey Jazz Fest lineup, the Teleman String Concertos.  

This list doesn't deliver all the music I listened to; but I was mostly listening to old favorites. Like Otis Redding on New Year's Eve. I don't know how to find new music I'd like, and I don't have enough new happy accidents. 

26  What did you want and get?

 Respect.

27  What did you want but didn't get?

 Respect. I can see this is going to be a theme.

28  What are your favorite movies this year?

"I do not entertain hypotheticals; I find the world as it is vexing enough."

29  What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn?

 I turned 52 and in such a state, I do not fucking remember. 

30  What would've made your year easier?

 Cold hard cash and a perfect bill of health.

31  What would you call your style 2010?

 Foxatronic, with a dash of bitters.

32  How did you manage to not lose your mind?

 Sweating profusely on the trail.

33 Which artist did you admire the most?

Someday everyone's going to realize Ariel Gore is a genius.

34  What political subject caught your interest most?

 The Fall of the Empire.

35  Who did you miss?

Little Miss Unwavering.

36  Who's the best new person you met in 2010?

 Deborah DeGouts.

37   Quote a song that sums up your year 2010.

 Give my shoes to the dogs
Leave my hair to the wind
And only smoke in the clothes I was standing in

Give my eyes to your face
Send my birds up the pole
Leave my kisses in the dust by the side of the road

Take the little lines that gather there
At the corner of my eyes
Take the laughter floating up the stairs
Every word except goodbye

Give my love to the lost
Sell my worries in pairs
Hide my hopes in the dark underneath the stairs

Give my arms to your waist
Oh the luck of the toss
To bring this dance to the floor that you walk across

Say it with me now

Sell my memories for dimes
Break my pocketwatch and spill out my time

Take the last page in the secret book
All the telling all the lies
Take the chimney; you can take a longing look
Every word except goodbye

— P. Mulvey, Every Word Except G'bye.

39  Are there any important lessons you learned 2010?

"If it's not one thing, it's two things."  

—Bart Dollhead

I got this template of questions from the Obscure Guardian! 

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN.

Post your link to your answers below in the comments so I can go read YOU.

Photo: Jill Posener.

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fourTen wrote:

"Men love the Susie Bright's who tell them they can keep on raping women because it's just consensual sex"

Just in case you thought this kind of nonsense was done with...

Steve Scher on KUOW's Puget Sound Morning Show

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