false 374683 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226585691m/374683.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226585691s/374683.jpg 60935 18 435527 book 1992 Possessing the Secret of Joy total:2303|5:752|4:908|3:514|2:103|1:26| 2303 9166 2917 173 7380 4.05 38789 2379 40179771 1505281 538538 0671789422 9780671789428 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630214m/538538.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630214s/538538.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538538.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.82 90 LJ. NYT. AB. ]]> 1992 4 3 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Dec 15 17:10:36 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 17:13:37 -0800 2008 more...]]> 17875530 197742 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.99 2109 1992 4 2 false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 16 13:43:32 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 20:02:18 -0700 2008
Since I am a very different person now that when I was in my early twenties - I experienced this book very differen...more...]]> 11624203 145359 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 5 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 08:26:01 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 08:39:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> 69161012 811687 736951 0151731527 9780151731527 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744m/736951.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744s/736951.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/736951.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 4.00 45 </div>]]> 1992 4 4 false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1993 Thu Aug 27 19:05:12 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 19:12:07 -0700 2009 Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker. It was a practice I had never heard of before, and I was both horrified and fascinated. I read it as soon as I c...more...]]> 37605014 305220 374683 0224035274 9780224035279 1 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226585691m/374683.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226585691s/374683.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/374683.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.83 6 1992 4 1 false Fri Nov 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 13 06:07:04 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 03:14:51 -0800 2008 1
The book looks the di...more...]]> 50242747 2143983 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 4 0 false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Mon Mar 23 19:33:48 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 16:43:30 -0700 2009
Bein...more...]]> 45576408 130071 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 4 0 false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 12:30:03 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 15:09:12 -0800 2009 The Color Purple. I certainly plan to read her most famous work now, as this novel is one I am thoroughly glad to have read.
...more...]]> 77499545 1580003 2761997 1595583645 9781595583642 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2761997.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 4.45 11 The stunning New York Times bestseller, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple, reissued in a handsome new edition.

From the author the New York Times Book Review calls "a lavishly gifted writer," this is the searing story of Tashi, a tribal African woman first glimpsed in The Color Purple whose fateful decision to submit to the tsunga's knife and be genitally mutilated leads to a trauma that informs her life and fatefully alters her existence.

Possessing the Secret of Joy, out of print for a number of years, was the first novel to deal with this controversial topic and managed to do so in a manner that Cosmopolitan called "masterful, honorable, and unforgettable storytelling." The New Press is proud to bring the book back into print with a new preface by the author addressing the book's initial reception and the changed attitudes toward female genital mutilation that have come about in part because of this book.]]> 1992 5 0 false Sun Dec 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 19:16:20 -0800 2009 Thu Dec 17 10:26:20 -0800 2009 The Color Purple and the horrific custom of female genital mutilation. Possessing the Secret of Joy is, as far as I know, is the first novel to illustrate the beliefs, effects, practices, and horrors behind FGM. Tashi represents the "every w...more...]]> 65139211 432896 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 5 0 false Mon Jul 27 10:37:55 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 10:45:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 38217107 219447 736951 0151731527 9780151731527 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744m/736951.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744s/736951.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/736951.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 </div>]]> 1992 5 0 false Thu Nov 20 07:51:48 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 08:00:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 34032276 1514842 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 4 0 false Sun Oct 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 28 08:47:52 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 19:56:51 -0700 2008
This story picks up on the lives of some of the characters from The Color Purple. Alice Walker says it is not meant to be ...more...]]> 29076278 1069458 538538 0671789422 9780671789428 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630214m/538538.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630214s/538538.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538538.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 LJ. NYT. AB. ]]> 1992 5 2 false Sat Jul 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 02 15:32:21 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 11 14:41:31 -0700 2009 1
And FGM infuriates me more than any other misogynistic cultural practice. I'm most assuredly not a cultural relativist. If a culture (including religions) perpetuates the sub...more...]]> 1362179 63195 538538 0671789422 9780671789428 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630214m/538538.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175630214s/538538.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538538.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 LJ. NYT. AB. ]]> 1992 5 0 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 22 07:52:12 -0700 2007 Tue May 22 08:02:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 57281370 1817774 736951 0151731527 9780151731527 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744m/736951.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744s/736951.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/736951.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 </div>]]> 1992 5 0 false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Mon May 25 13:58:32 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 14:00:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 32456271 1511638 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 4 0 false Mon Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 12:48:47 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 10:24:11 -0700 2008
This book is written from a number of different points of view, and it switches very quickl...more...]]> 35531731 1282841 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 4 0 false Fri Oct 17 02:16:17 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 02:27:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 47871932 130934 736951 0151731527 9780151731527 10 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744m/736951.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177861744s/736951.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/736951.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 </div>]]> 1992 5 0 false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 05:26:28 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 09:28:02 -0800 2009 I have very much enjoyed Alice Walker's writing.
In no way to make light of the horrific nature of the mutiliation it does make me re...more...]]> 2665484 166713 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 5 0 false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Jul 03 07:13:30 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 03 07:46:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 26350216 1180394 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 5 0 false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1993 Sat Jul 05 06:37:32 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 11:13:08 -0700 2008
Every woman can identify wi...more...]]> 42906114 1905376 60935 0671789457 9780671789459 149 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834m/60935.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170553834s/60935.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60935.Possessing_the_Secret_of_Joy 3.98 2303 1992 5 0 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Tue Jan 13 09:18:22 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 09:20:52 -0800 2009 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=374683