Edited and with an introduction written and read by Roxane Gay, the New York Moments best-selling and deeply cherished author of Bad Feminist and Craving for food, this anthology of first-person essays read by all 30 contributors including Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, and Lyz Lenz, tackles rape, assault, and harassment head-on.

Vogue, “10 of the very most Anticipated Books of Springtime 2018” * Harper’s Bazaar, “10 New Books to Add to Your Reading List in 2018” * Elle, “21 Books We’re Most Excited to Read in 2018” * about Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Tradition Boston World, “25 books we can’t wait to learn in 2018” * Huffington Post, “60 Books WE CAN NOT Wait to learn in 2018” * Hi there Giggles, “19 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018” * Buzzfeed, “33 Most Exciting New Books of 2018”

In this specific and revealing anthology, cultural critic and best-selling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what this means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they may be ‘routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied’ for speaking out. Efforts include essays from founded and up-and-coming authors, performers, and critics, including stars Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and authors Amy Jo Burns up, Lyz Lenz, and Claire Schwartz.

Covering a wide range of topics and experiences, from an exploration of the rape epidemic inlayed in the refugee crisis to first-person accounts of child molestation, this collection is often deeply personal and is always unflinchingly honest. Like Rebecca Solnit’s Guys Explain What to Me, Not really That Poor will resonate with every listener, saying ‘something in totality that we cannot say by itself.’

Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this provocative collection both reflects the globe we live in and offers a contact to hands insisting that ‘not that bad’ must no more be good enough.

Narrators include: Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, Amy Jo Uses up, Lyz Lenz, Claire Schwartz, Aubrey Hirsch, Jill Christman, Lynn Melnick, Brandon Taylor, Emma Smith-Stevens, A.J. McKenna, Lisa Mecham, Vanessa Mártir, xTx, Sophie Mayer, Nora Salem, V.L. Seek, Michelle Chen, Liz Rosema, Anthony Frame, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Miriam Zoila Pérez, Zoe Medeiros, Sharisse Tracey, Stacey May Fowles, Elisabeth Fairfield Stokes, Meredith Talusan, Nicole Boyce, and Elissa Bassist.