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| Authors | Hillary Rodham Clinton,Chelsea Clinton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Heroic women |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | October 1, 2019 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 464 |
| ISBN | 1-5011-7841-5 |
| Preceded by | What Happened |
| Followed by | State of Terror |
| Website | Publisher website |
The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience is a book co-authored byHillary Rodham Clinton, the former U.S. first lady, senator, and secretary of state, and her daughterChelsea Clinton. It is Hillary Clinton's eighth book with her publisher,Simon & Schuster.
It was released on October 1, 2019, and includes portraits of "gutsy women" includingChimamanda Ngozi Adichie,Mary Ritter Beard,Harriet Tubman,Edith Windsor, andMalala Yousafzai.[1][2][3] In many cases the authors describe how the subjects influenced their lives and in some cases how they met them.[4]In explaining their motivation to write the book, the authors say, "If history shows one thing, it's that the world needs gutsy women. So in the moments when the long haul seems awfully long, we hope you will draw strength from these stories. We do."[1] Hillary Clinton added, "This book is a continuation of a conversation Chelsea and I have been having since she was a little girl, and we are excited to welcome others into that conversation."[1]
The book received mixed-to-positive critical notices from those media outlets that reviewed it. It spent ten weeks onThe New York Times Best Seller list.
The first book co-authored by the mother and daughter,[5] it has sections labeled as "Hillary", "Chelsea", and "Hillary and Chelsea" to clarify who wrote what.[6] The former wrote inlonghand while the latter sought to usecollaborative software, making the writing process somewhat frustrating.[2][7] The book was also written with the assistance of Lauren Peterson, a former speechwriter from her 2016presidential campaign.[6] There are no footnotes or other indications in the book of where the research for the profiles comes from.[4]
Financial terms of the book were not disclosed when the project was announced in August 2019.[3]
More than one hundred women are featured in the volume, selected from more than two hundred essays the pair wrote.[2] Entries range from 17th-century nun and self-taught scholarJuana Inés de la Cruz to contemporary teenage climate activistGreta Thunberg, and include women who are little known to the general public.[1] Some of the less familiar subjects include astronomerCaroline Herschel, doctorMary Edwards Walker, pediatrician and professorMona Hanna-Attisha, and women's rights advocateManal al-Sharif.[4] Some family members of the Clintons are also included as subjects.[3]
The cover image shows, as the authors state, a group of women firefighters in a training exercise atPearl Harbor Naval Shipyard sometime after U.S. entry into World War II.[8] (The photograph has often been mislabeled as being made during theattack on Pearl Harbor. The story behind the black-and-white image was told by investigative reporterBill Dedman in 2011.[9] It has been colorized for the cover of this book.)
These are the entries in the book, as listed in its Table of Contents:
Upon the book's release, the authors appeared on several television talk shows to promote it.[10] They also staged abook tour around the country,[8] with some appearances being held under the title "An Evening and Conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton".[5][11] Sales were brisk in some locations, with tickets for an appearance at theTrinity United Methodist Church in Denver being gone within an hour.[12]
Additional attention came to Hillary Clinton during interviews for the book, as publication of it happened to coincide with the filing on anofficial impeachment inquiry againstthe man who had defeated her in the 2016 election.[8] At a book tour appearance at theNational Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which drew some 650 people, she said, "How appropriate that we would talk about a constitutional crisis such as the one we are in, right here at the Constitution Center."[7] She asked whether anyone in the president's party was willing to act like the pioneering U.S. senatorMargaret Chase Smith, who was one of the profiles in the book.[7]
The book received a positive notice fromViv Groskop, writing for the British newspaperi, who praised the "beautifully written stories of women's lives" and characterized it as "possibly a first: a cultural artefact inspired by a mother and a daughter which is neither cringeworthily sentimental nor frighteningly bitchy."[6] Groskop concluded by saying, "The whole thing feels like a restrained statement of rebellion and also a sort of consolation."[6] Feminist authorJo Freeman, writing for SeniorWomenWeb, said "This is a book that every young woman needs to read."[13] Nancy Gilson inThe Columbus Dispatch wrote that "a sense of female camaraderie permeates the book. ... It is a pleasure to read about favorite female heroines and an even greater pleasure to discover new ones."[4]
Others were more critical, likeThe Daily Telegraph's Madeline Grant, who criticized the book for failing to includeMargaret Thatcher – "the ultimate gutsy woman" in her words.[14]Camilla Long ofThe Sunday Times wrote that the book "isn't a book of feminist icons – it's a list of people who think the same as Hillary."[15] Keziah Featherstone, writing forTES, said that for educators the book was "a great introduction for those dedicated to a diverse and representative curriculum ... the range included is undoubtedly terrific." But she noted that the work "is framed as a long (long) conversation between mother and daughter" and said that was a detriment to readers who did not care that much about the Clintons.[16]
The Book of Gutsy Women sold almost 30,000 print copies in its first week of availability, good for second place in thePublishers Weekly ranking of adult nonfiction.[17] The book debuted at number two onThe New York Times Best Seller list for combined print and e-book nonfiction for the week of October 20, 2019.[18] In subsequent weeks it fell to number eight and then number thirteen, fell off the list, then reappeared for two more weeks at numbers fourteen and ten, fell off the list, then reappeared again at number fifteen. It fell off the list again, only to reappear during the holiday shopping season at number eight and then number six. This was followed by a drop to number thirteen and then, for its final appearance, number fifteen for the week of January 12, 2020. In all it had appeared on the list on ten non-consecutive weeks.[18]
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