An important and hopeful reminder that much work is still needed in order to bridge unjust gaps between women and men.
An examination of “the mother of all gender gaps.”
London-based journalist Sieghart recounts how, while attending a conference, she sat next to a banker who inquired about her occupation. After she answered, he exclaimed, “Wow, you’re a busy little girl!” She was 50 at the time. This is just one of the many examples that the author offers as evidence that, despite some progress, women are still taken less seriously than men. Sieghart contends that women (and those who identify as women) are still routinely patronized by men, have their views ignored or their expertise challenged, are talked over by male colleagues, and have subordinates resist them as bosses. To further support her claims, the author provides details from research studies as well as interviews with numerous women who have held high-ranking positions. These include Madeleine Albright, Janet Yellen, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Bachelet, and Julia Gillard, who also provide firsthand accounts of their experiences. Sieghart examines the biases that many men (as well as women) have toward women, which are often “irrational and anachronistic product[s] of social conditioning and outdated stereotypes.” From an early age, she writes, “we absorb the notion that girls and women are designed to be ornamental and boys and men to be instrumental.” The author also contends that adults reinforce these stereotypes, often unwittingly, when they engage with children. To counteract this problem, she delivers meaningful and easily actionable suggestions for individuals and society. For example, Sieghart suggests that if fathers are more involved in raising their children, sons will “have a more egalitarian perspective” of women’s roles. Regarding schooling, the author shows how teachers can help increase the confidence of girls by encouraging them to speak up in class. She also implores journalists to resist devoting so much time to women’s appearances.
An important and hopeful reminder that much work is still needed in order to bridge unjust gaps between women and men.Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-393-86775-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A brash entrepreneurial memoir driven by ambition and resilience if sometimes sidetracked by repeated score-settling.
The controversial Barstool Sports founder speaks his mind.
Love him or loathe him, Barstool Sports founder Portnoy has built one of the most influential—and polarizing—sports media brands of the digital age. Readers will likely approach his memoir with opinions already firmly in place. Fans will relish his blunt unapologetic voice; detractors may at least come away respecting the relentless drive behind his success. Although framed around Portnoy’s many public controversies, ultimately, this is less a grievance narrative than an entrepreneurial memoir in which nearly every business triumph is accompanied by another public feud that only amplifies his brand. He casts himself as perpetually at war with journalists, business rivals, and critics determined to cancel him. His fiercest attacks are reserved for agents and reporters. The strongest chapters chronicle Barstool’s unlikely beginnings as a free, Boston sports-gambling newspaper he launched in 2003. Beneath his swagger, Portnoy delivers a surprisingly grounded, even inspiring, account of building a business from scratch: cold-calling advertisers before the paper existed, writing nearly every article himself, delivering copies throughout Boston, inventing marketing schemes on the fly, and refusing to quit despite repeated setbacks. He vividly captures the obsessive work ethic and improvisational instincts that transformed a one-man operation into a multimedia empire spanning sports media, gambling, podcasts, merchandising, and internet personalities. Portnoy’s guiding principle is simple: trust in his instincts, no matter the backlash. That certainty fuels both his greatest successes and his most divisive moments, including his unwavering political opinions and repeated clashes with the press. Refreshingly free of the ghostwritten slickness that flattens so many celebrity memoirs, he proves a natural storyteller. His prose is unfiltered, profane, combative, and consistently entertaining. Even readers at odds with his worldview may better appreciate how the same unshakable convictions that repeatedly landed him in controversy also powered Barstool’s remarkable rise.
A brash entrepreneurial memoir driven by ambition and resilience if sometimes sidetracked by repeated score-settling.Pub Date: June 30, 2026
ISBN: 9781668222027
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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