“The Female Man” by Joanna Russ – let’s read and discuss!
Details
Welcome back, readers! For this round we’ve chosen a feminist classic, first released in 1975: “The Female Man” by Joanna Russ!
Here’s a brief summary:
> “The Female Man” is a suspenseful, surprising and darkly witty chronicle of what happens when Jeannine, Janet, Joanna, and Jael—four alternative selves from drastically different realities—meet.
Library of America writes:
> “The Female Man”: a multivoiced, multidimensional voyage that challenges readers’ sense of gender and reality—introduces four remarkable women: Jeannine, a librarian from an alternate-reality New York in which the Great Depression never ended; Joanna, a 1970s activist who in some ways resembles the author; Janet, from the utopian, all-female future planet Whileaway; and Jael, a black-clad, steel-fanged warrior from embattled Womanland, who has brought the other three together to enlist them in a liberatory war against patriarchy in every dimension.
It’s quite a short read, at just over 200 pages. As always, you can find more information and reviews on the novels’s GoodReads page and due to its classic status it also has a Wikipedia entry (beware of plot spoilers though).
Curious to join us? Order a copy at your local book shop or online:
- The book on Bookshop
- The book on Amazon
- Search for used copies on Abebooks (many old editions with amazingly goofy 70s covers)
An e-book is also available, along with translations into various languages. If you’re curious about more of Joanna Russ’s writing and you’re reading in English, consider getting her “Library of America” volume (LOA #373), which contains multiple novels and short stories.
Our meeting is scheduled for June 9, 2026 and we usually discuss in English for 1.5-2 hours. You definitely don’t need a literature degree to participate! It’s important to us to listen to each other, to treat everyone with respect and to create a safe setting.
The discussion takes place virtually in Zoom and the meeting link will be added to this event on the day it happens. Just check back here half an hour before the meetup starts!
It doesn’t matter if you have actually finished the book or whether you’ve attended before – everyone is welcome, as long as you have read at least a few pages and bring your impression.