Fiction

Last edited Mon Nov 3, 2025, 04:38 AM - Edit history (1)

It came up in a conversation with my aunt this morning. We were discussing books and I told her about Valerie Solanas’ SCUM Manifesto. I told her that it reads like a tongue in cheek work of satire, except that she did try to murder Andy Warhol, significantly muddying her legacy.

I read my aunt the first paragraph (maintaining that I treat it as satire). It really is a shame that she tried to kill Warhol. Violence ruins everything. It’s a grimly fun feminist read viewed strictly as satire. (In a less surveilled world I wouldn’t have to say that over and over-thrice so far).

Indeed, what distinguishes it in the human imagination from superficial eccentricity results from the very fact that she was a complicated woman and not a celebrity safely playing to an audience (with a foul brand in tow). She lead a hard life and self-published it. It is pretty much my favorite piece of feminist writing.

Good for Rio de Janeiro btw. Cool image.