My Life on the Road

Book, 2015

Premise – A memoir by Gloria Steinem, a feminist activist and organizer. She details her life traveling the world and speaking with women, men, politicians, Native Americans, taxi drivers, and more, about their life experiences.

Review – I knew very little about Gloria Steinem prior to reading this book. I only knew of it because My Life on the Road was the first book Emma Watson recommended for her feminist book club, "Our Shared Shelf". I only knew of Gloria Steinem because of the interview she did with Emma Watson. After reading and enjoying another "Our Shared Shelf" pick, Persepolis, I decided to read more of Emma Watson’s choices. Once again, I was not disappointed.

The content was fantastic. This was another rare instance where I had to stop reading to take note of a stunning quote or passage, multiple times throughout reading. I felt like I learned so much new information, but also confirmed a lot of information that my instincts said were true from the beginning.

There are two major critiques I have of the book. The first is more of a personal critique, pointing out where our opinions may differ. The second is an organizational critique (ironic considering Gloria is an organizer, right?)

I am not just a sponge who will dogmatically accept whatever an authority figure tells me. So, while I was open minded to learning Gloria’s point of view, and fortunately agreed with or came to agree with the vast majority of what she had to say, some of her writing on political campaigns made me uncomfortable. She had an entire chapter dedicated to different candidates she had supported over the years, namely Hillary Clinton. My harsh opinion of Hillary Clinton softened throughout reading the chapter, but I couldn’t help but have reservations considering how dismissive Gloria Steinem was of any claims that Hillary Clinton was not a model feminist. While she discussed why Hillary Clinton did not divorce Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, she did not address claims of sexual harassment and misogyny from her husband or any of the other powerful people who surround her. There are legitimate reasons why women question Hillary Clinton’s feminism, and Gloria Steinem only addressed the illegitimate reasons that any reasonable person would agree is unfair. This is honestly my only critique on content. There was so much about this book that was just fantastic. I loved how intersectional the book was, with the specific focus on Native American women. Brilliantly honest and optimistic. 

The other critique that I have is purely about the structure of the novel. Her stories are not told in chronological order, but rather by ideas. There’s a section on drivers, a section on political campaigns, etc. Theoretically, this is the most effective way to get her opinions across. However, real life does not operate by theory. As much as she tried to categorize her experiences, so many of them overlap. Not having enough background knowledge on Gloria Steinem, I had a really difficult time keeping track of her life timeline and accomplishments. Some of the sections are more distinct than others, while her chapter on Talking Circles seemed so dispersed to me that the stories did not stick with me, because I could not integrate them into my memory as well. Again, content was great, but organization was iffy. (81/100)

Quotes: "Ordinary people are smart, smart people are ordinary."

"When I felt I had to prove the existence of discrimination with statistics, for instance, she pulled me aside. 'If you're lying in the ditch with a truck on your ankle,' she said patiently, you don't send somebody to the library to find out how much the truck weighs. You get it off.'"

And, most importantly, "Always ask the turtle." This anecdote on her experience with a turtle on a school field trip stuck with me more than anything I have read in recent years. I haven't stopped thinking about it.

What to watch for - She did an hour and a half interview with Emma Watson that I highly recommend watching after you finish the book.

If you liked this book, I'd recommend going through the rest of the picks for "Our Shared Shelf"! That's what I'm going to try.

Author: Gloria Steinem

Publisher: Random House