Publishers Weekly
09/12/2022
Actor Tamblyn (Era of Ignition)—along with a roster of contributors including doctors, poets, and fellow actors—examines in this deeply moving anthology the power of intuition. Many women learn from an early age to ignore their strong “inner compass,” writes author Jessica Valenti in “Untwisting My Intuition.” Poet and therapist Mindy Nettifee describes in “Over the Rainbow” dreading her marriage but waiting for her “inner voices to relax,” and realizing years later that trusting herself “radically changed my life for the better.” Dara Kass, an emergency room physician, reveals in “Harnessing Catastrophes” how her “clinical gestalt” helps her make life-or-death decisions. Actor Amy Poehler shares in “Practicing the Quiet” a chilling account of being assaulted in college, and her understanding as she’s “gotten wiser over the years” that “the quiet space is what we’ve all been overlooking” Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley writes in “Mirrors,” meanwhile, that “we must learn to don our armor and choose which reflections we allow into our hearts.” A lively conversation between actor America Ferrera and Tamblyn is especially enjoyable: “Locate your own personal Beyoncé Chakra and protect it at all costs,” Ferrera advises. Intimate and thought-provoking, this collection packs a punch. Agent: Anthony Mattero, Creative Artists Agency. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Listening in the Dark is a new classic in the old tradition of women finding ways to remind ourselves, and each other, we have always been this powerful. That our bodies have always known to hear and see in the wind and sky what might be coming, or in some cases, what has already come to pass. These illuminating essays are as varied in subject as their authors are in background, but share a common goal in getting the reader to counteract generations of conditioning and ask themselves, ‘But what if I’m right?’ Brilliantly edited by Amber Tamblyn, this anthology isn’t just worth reading, it’s worth passing down to your own next generation, so they never forget what you learned inside.” —Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody’s Daughter
"We've been told to second-guess ourselves. To doubt what we know in our bodies, our bones. And here comes this book with its chorus of brilliant, badass writers and thinkers saying Enough. Listen to yourself. Trust yourself. There's enough brainpower in these pages to electrify whole cities and they're asking us to join them: Shhhhhh. Listen. You know what to do, to make; how to heal, to fight. The answers are right there, pumping your own perfect heart." —Megan Stielstra, author of The Wrong Way to Save Your Life
"The stories in Listening in the Dark, ranging from lyrical to thought-provoking to laugh-out-loud funny, make a powerful case for trusting your gut. Intuition can save our lives—and even more than that, this brilliant collection argues, it can make our lives rich, fulfilling, and wholly, beautifully our own." —Claire Comstock-Gay, author of Madame Clairevoyant's Guide to the Stars
"What it means to know yourself and listen to yourself feel like lifelong practices, illuminated by this thought-provoking collection. Listening in the Dark creates space for readers to ask and answer their own questions about what it means to trust yourself." —Rainesford Stauffer, author of An Ordinary Age
“This is a luminous collection of compelling and important stories about what it means to trust yourself. In a world that is increasingly dangerous to women and non-binary people, Listening in the Dark is a powerful reminder that sometimes intuition is our only protection.” —Natalka Burian, author of A Woman's Drink and co-founder of The Freya Project
"This gift of a book is for any woman – such as myself – who needs to be reminded why their gut instinct is the most powerful resource they have. A brilliant anthology that features some of our most dazzling and subversive minds." —Michele Filgate, editor of What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About
“Readers will leave with a newfound appreciation for intuition, the electric magic that guides their creativity, relationships, and dreams. A gifted polymath, Tamblyn boldly dissects life’s greatest mysteries to make readers feel less alone in their bodies and minds.” —Booklist, Starred Review
New York Times bestselling author Ashley C. Ford
This anthology isn’t just worth reading, it’s worth passing down to your own next generation.”
Library Journal
09/09/2022
The latest from poet/actress/writer Tamblyn (Any Man Can) is a collection of essays from several women-identifying and nonbinary people, including Ada Limón, Lidia Yuknavitch, Amy Poehler, Ayanna Pressley, and Tamblyn herself, who contributes a number of essays and poems. The focus here is on trusting feelings, trusting the body, learning from dreams, and valuing connection. Intuition, notes contributor Samantha Irby parenthetically, feels like "a word that someone who is more spiritual and tuned into complex emotions than I am gets to use." She affirms the power of the gut feeling. Any reader who feels similarly will find particular value in Dr. Nicole Apelian's essay, "The Science of Intuition and Deep Connection with Nature," which offers a pragmatic series of tips for nurturing this connection. But most of these pieces assume that readers already have a healthy respect for intuition. VERDICT This title will resonate strongly with readers who enjoyed Clarissa Pinkola Estés's Women Who Run with the Wolves, a work Tamblyn mentions a number of times. With a variety of perspectives, this collection validates women striving to hear and trust themselves.—Audrey Snowden
Kirkus Reviews
2022-07-20
The actor and poet delves into women’s intuition with a collection of essays featuring a diverse set of voices.
How does one go about “reclaiming the power of intuition”? For Tamblyn and many other contributors, it’s about exercising a muscle women have long been told to suppress. Women are often taught to ignore the gut feelings that might “lead us toward a personal or professional revelation or freedom.” In fact, writes the author, “the destruction of our intuitive lives in our youth is the first major act of misogyny a young girl will experience in a life defined by the normalization of such oppressions.” Many of the essays are less prescriptive and more thought-provoking. The contributors provide scientific examinations, dream studies, ruminations on the freedoms of being alone, and ideas about how to process the guilt that comes with making choices that, while correct, may lead to frustration or criticism. Depending on the reader’s disposition, Tamblyn’s own pieces will come off as self-indulgent or delightful—particularly her extended conversation with her good friend America Ferrera, whom she met while working on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. By contract, Amy Poehler clearly understood the assignment, concluding, “Intuition depends on instinct plus time, and feelings plus experience.” Ayanna Pressley and Huma Abedin write beautifully about how their mothers taught them how to listen and follow their intuition. “I trust that I know and what I know,” writes Abedin. “It was something first modeled for me by my mother, who learned it from her own mother, just as it was handed down through the generations of the women who came before them.” Other contributors include Jessica Valenti, Lidia Yuknavitch, Ada Limón, Jia Tolentino, Meredith Talusan, and Samantha Irby.
Lessons worth learning: Listening and trusting yourself is always going to lead you on the right path eventually.
