Creep: Accusations and Confessions
Written by Myriam Gurba
Narrated by Myriam Gurba
4/5
()
About this audiobook
A LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST
“Quite simply one of the best books of the decade.” —Los Angeles Review of Books * “The mother of intersectional Latinx identity.” —Cosmopolitan * “Brilliant…a hopeful book…rooted in the steadfast belief other worlds are possible.” —The New York Observer * “Witty, confident, and effortlessly provocative.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer * “The most fearless writer in America.” —Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Good Night, Irene
A ruthless and razor-sharp essay collection that tackles the pervasive, creeping oppression and toxicity that has wormed its way into society—in our books, schools, and homes, as well as the systems that perpetuate them—from one of our fiercest, foremost explorers of intersectional Latinx identity.
A creep can be a single figure, a villain who makes things go bump in the night. Yet creep is also what the fog does—it lurks into place to do its dirty work, muffling screams, obscuring the truth, and providing cover for those prowling within it.
Creep is “sharp, conversational cultural criticism” (Bustle), a blistering and slyly informal sociology of creeps (the individuals who deceive, exploit, and oppress) and creep culture (the systems, tacit rules, and institutions that feed them and allow them to grow and thrive). In eleven bold, electrifying pieces, Gurba mines her own life and the lives of others—some famous, some infamous, some you’ve never heard of but will likely never forget—to unearth the toxic traditions that have long plagued our culture and enabled the abusers who haunt our books, schools, and homes.
With her ruthless mind, wry humor, and adventurous style, Gurba implicates everyone from William Burroughs to her grandfather, from Joan Didion to her own abusive ex-partner; she takes aim at everything from public school administrations to the mainstream media, from Mexican stereotypes to the carceral state. Weaving her own history and identity throughout, she argues for a new way of conceptualizing oppression, and she does it with her signature blend of bravado and humility.
Editor's Note
Highly anticipated…
In this incisive and painfully accurate essay collection, Gurba (“Mean”) scrutinizes the evils that infect our beliefs and behaviors. Racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and nationalist ideals often don’t appear blatantly, Gurba reveals — instead, they creep into our media and policies like a slow-moving fog. Blending personal memoir with cultural critique (and backed by research), “Creep” rips the wool from our eyes, making space for recognition and redemption.
Myriam Gurba
Myriam Gurba is a writer and artist. She is the author of the true crime memoir Mean, a New York Times Editors’ Choice. O, The Oprah Magazine, ranked Mean as one of the best LGBTQ books of all time. Publishers Weekly describes Gurba as having a voice like no other. Her essays and criticism have appeared in The Paris Review, Time, and 4Columns. She has shown art in galleries, museums, and community centers. She lives in Pasadena, California.
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Reviews for Creep
18 ratings4 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a raw, sad, happy, funny, and terrifying collection of personal essays. It delves into the issue of violence against women, shedding light on the historical context and the impact it has on individuals. The author skillfully connects personal experiences with larger societal issues, highlighting the interconnectedness of misogyny, domestic violence, and sexual assault. This book offers a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of these topics, challenging readers to confront and address them."
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So raw and sad and happy and funny and terrifying
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of the best books written about violence against women, written in a collection of personal essays that include stunning bits of history including the famously corrupt Mexican president who shot and killed the family's Indigenous maid when they were both young children and that Jeanne Córdova. was a nanny to Joan Didion's daughter Quintana Roo (Gurba delightfully skewers the choice of that name too). Too much writing (and other media!) these days on domestic violence, rape and sexual harassment lets men off the hook: Gurba understands that her grandfather's misogyny and cheating on her grandmother (a child bride at 13 and later gave her gonorrhea) is part of the same atmosphere that leads to a stranger sexual assaulting her and a partner doing the same. That partner was a high school teacher who also repeatedly beat Gurba (and other partners) and told Gurba how turned on he was by his female students. He kept his job.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't hesitate. You need to read this book. Yes, you.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Same old predictable Social Sciences indoctrinated victim mythologies to gain privilege through shame.
2 people found this helpful