Critical Praise for Big Sex Little Death
"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’s fantastic memoir introduces us to her influences and experiences, including her early involvement with notorious high school radicals The Red Tide as well as the magazine she co-founded in the 1980s, On Our Backs— the first-ever erotic magazine created by women.
"Susie Bright is the Emma Goldman of our time."
Michael Simmons, LA Weekly
"Bright emerges as a bona fide American pioneer."
"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."
"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." Richard von Busack, Santa Cruz Weekly
"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."
"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
