Bitch Doctrine

Bitch Doctrine by Laurie Penny, one of the most accomplished and acerbic of the new, young journalists emerging from the protest movements of the 2010s, takes you to the front trench of the gender war and keeps you there longer than anyone should really stay * Paul Mason, Guardian *
Laurie Penny is a polemicist – and her book is a largely data-free stream of consciousness – but she writes with verve and humour. It is a blast, in all senses * Financial Times *
Laurie Penny is the tits. Witty and brazen, a force for both decency and revolution, she’s a swashbuckling rhetorician, a daring reporter and an all-around fabulous broad. Bitch Doctrine provides an invaluable case for truth-telling in an age of chaos and lies * Emily Nussbaum *
If you've followed Penny’s work, you'll know that the thing that sets her apart from other enraged columnists is her empathy. She understands exactly what her opponents are thinking, and why, precisely, they are full of shit. This is a delight of a book. Penny’s essays are righteous ones * Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother *
The feminist writer Laurie Penny gives us short essays on everything from the trials of being trolled to why exactly she calls herself polyamorous and genderqueer ... Precise and rational ... Provocative * Vogue *
It’s spiky, but that’s no bad thing. She’s angry, she won’t spare your feelings and cripes, she’s clever. Dig out your dictionary, a reference book on identity politics and concentrate * Stylist *
A provocative rallying cry, she confronts social issues from love, gender and violence, pitching them against a backdrop of Trump and the rise of the right * Red *
A dizzyingly clever, warm and witty compilation of essays covering topics which range from the 2016 US presidential election, to writing which explores the notion of gender: it looks at the nature of relationships and examines the current culture we find ourselves in … Passionate, interesting, thoughtful * Cherwell *
A writer and polemicist, a bad-ass, contrary, angry, bisexual troublemaker who is never happier than when she’s upsetting someone, or preferably everyone … We need her * The Times *
An insightful, provocative and bold commentator. She is always relevant without slavishly following a supposedly 'topical' agenda set by others. Most importantly, she never compromises her compassion and humanity * Irvine Welsh *
Sometimes enraging, sometimes enchanting, often both at once … A raw, bright, urgent voice … Like Caitlin Moran, another compulsive and essentially self-taught writer, she went to places others didn’t and brought back things they had missed * Guardian *
Forget Sex and the City, Penny doesn’t give a damn about the politics of waxing or how small your pants are. She’s more interested in analysing the battles we face around gender under late capitalism ... We are dealing with a new world order * Observer *
Penny is one of the first feminist writers to grow up within, and so instinctively understand, both the possibilities and the dangers of this relatively new cyber world * New Statesman *