Fast Fallen Women Quotes

“Here's to every woman who lost her virginity but kept the box it came in.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction

“Fallen women are often used as an object lesson, as the subject of a tutorial on how not to become her. This book is no such tutorial; it is a celebration. It encourages you to take risks. The risk of failure, rejection, humiliation—the risk of losing place for yourself entirely and not being able to get it back, of being seen as foolish, brazen bitchy, grabby, and batshit crazy. Embrace the fall.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction

“As soon as you feel your own desire, you fall. To feel deeply is to fall far. The fallen woman is controlling or out of control; she is out for herself or out of her mind; she is out for blood and out of bounds. A fallen woman is a dangerous woman because she has nothing left to lose.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction

“Culpa" may mean "fall," but implies responsibility. A culpable woman is a capable woman, and an admission of guilt is the price of admission into a life of free will.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction

“To get anywhere, a woman must fall. You can fall by being tipsy, getting ahead of yourself, by missing a step. You can fall because there was a blind alley, a sharp curve, a slippery surface, or a stumbling block. You fall because somebody pulls the rug out from under you or because the whole time as you stood, believing you were on solid ground, there was a trapdoor directly beneath you.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction

“All good writing reflects and illuminates life; Fast Fallen Women holds up a compact mirror. You might well see yourself.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction

“Writing it down is the opposite of covering it up.”
― Gina Barreca, Fast Fallen Women: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction