US/EN
The Red Zone: A Love Story
Chloe Caldwell
(Author)
Description
A searching, galvanizing memoir about blood and love: how learning more about her period, PMS, PMDD, and the effects of hormones on moods transformed her relationships--to a new partner, to family, to non-blood kin, and to her own body--from the beloved essayist and author of Women Chloe Caldwell's period has often felt inconvenient, uncomfortable, or even painful. It's only once she's in her thirties, as she's falling in love with Tony, a musician and single dad, that its effects on her mood start to dominate her life. Spurred by the intensity and seriousness of her new relationship, it strikes her: her outbursts of anxiety and rage match her hormonal cycle. Compelled to understand the truth of what's happening to her, Chloe documents attitudes toward menstruation among her peers and family, reads Reddit threads about PMS, attends a conference called Break the Cycle, and learns about premenstrual dysphoric disorder, PMDD, which helps her name what she's been going through. For Chloe, healing isn't about finding a single cure. It means reflecting on underlying patterns in her life: her feelings about her queer identity and writing persona in the context of a heterosexual relationship; how her parents' divorce contributed to her issues with trust; and what it means to blend a family. The Red Zone is a candid, revelatory memoir for anyone grappling with controversial medical diagnoses and labels of all kinds. It's about coming to terms with the fact that--along with proper treatment--self-acceptance, self-compassion, and transcending shame are the ultimate keys to relief. It's also about love: how challenging it can be, how it reveals your weaknesses and wounds, and how, if you allow it, it will push you to grow and change.Product Details
Price
$16.95
$15.76
Publisher
Soft Skull
Publish Date
April 19, 2022
Pages
320
Dimensions
5.5 X 8.2 X 0.9 inches | 0.7 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781593766993
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About the Author
Chloe Caldwell is the author of three books: I'll Tell You in Person, Women, and Legs Get Led Astray. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, Bon Appétit, The Cut, The Strategist, BuzzFeed, NYLON, VICE, Longreads, and many anthologies. Her essay "Hungry Ghost" was listed as Notable in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017. She lives in Hudson, New York, and teaches creative writing online at Writing Workshops, LitReactor, and the Fine Arts Work Center. Find out more at www.chloesimonne.com.
Reviews
"Chloe Caldwell invites us to call shotgun on one of her most intimate, moving, and hilarious rides yet! Tinder, THC, Poshmark, WebMD, Prozac, diner eggs, ovulation--The Red Zone has all the highs and lows you come to expect in her delightful nonfiction. Plus her exploration of PMDD and being a stepmom offers a texture all their own. The Red Zone operates like a love story indeed on so many levels--we readers feel so loved turning every page of this gorgeous offering." --Porochista Khakpour, author of Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity "The Red Zone showcases Chloe Caldwell at her best, with her trademark blend of humor and vulnerability. This is a special book, skillfully balancing practical knowledge and artistic deftness, and sharpness with sweetness." --Juliet Escoria, author of Juliet the Maniac "The Red Zone is an intense, informative, highly entertaining book about the menstrual cycle, sexism, bickering, divorce, marriage, stepmotherhood, holistic gradual self-healing, and the layered effort to move from impulsivity and fear to stability and growth." --Tao Lin, author of Leave Society "The Red Zone: A Love Story is a period memoir as only Chloe Caldwell could write it, with warmth and particularity and charm. I smiled in recognition every few pages, read parts angrily aloud to my husband as though they were his fault, and laughed loudly enough at others to wake up my dogs. Yes, it's a love story, but The Red Zone is also an adventure, which may sound like a strange descriptor for a book about PMDD until you have experienced it through Caldwell's wry, piercing, fundamentally optimistic eyes. Both personal and communal, searching and exuberant, The Red Zone will speak to anyone who has been led by pain, curiosity, or misdiagnosis to become a detective of her own body." --Kristi Coulter, author of Nothing Good Can Come from This "Finally (finally!) someone wrote a book about struggling to understand your body and your heart and finding the answers on the internet. This book is moving, funny, and impossible to put down. Caldwell reveals the messiness of life in a way few writers can pull off." --Chelsea Martin, author of Caca Dolce: Essays from a Lowbrow Life
