"An intricately constructed and emotionally devastating book about the appearance and disappearance of love." --Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of SpeculationIn her dazzling Abandon Me, Febos captures t
While a college student at The New School, Melissa Febos spent four years working as a dominatrix in a midtown dungeon.In poetic, nuanced prose she charts how unchecked risk-taking eventually g
A dark, wild, powerful memoir about a young woman’s transformation from college student to professional dominatrix While a college student at The New School, Melissa Febos spent four years working as
In her critically acclaimed memoir, Whip Smart, Melissa Febos laid bare the intimate world of the professional dominatrix, turning an honest examination of her life into a lyrical study of power, desi
A gripping set of essays about the forces that shape girls and the adults theybecome. A wise and brilliant guide to transforming the self and our society.National BestsellerIn her powerful new book, critically acclaimed author Melissa Febos examines the narratives women are told about what it means to be female and what it takes to free oneself from them.When her body began to change at eleven years old, Febos understood immediately that her meaning to other people had changed with it. By her teens, she defined herself based on these perceptions and by the romantic relationships she threw herself into headlong. Over time, Febos increasingly questioned the stories she’d been told about herself and the habits and defenses she’d developed over years of trying to meet others’ expectations. The values she and so many other women had learned in girlhood did not prioritize their personal safety, happiness, or freedom, and she set out to reframe those values and beliefs.Blending investigative
