Being Lolita

A Memoir

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 04 Aug 2020 | Archive Date 29 Jul 2021

Talking about this book? Use #BeingLolita #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

AS FEATURED IN THE HULU DOCUMENTARY KEEP THIS BETWEEN US

A dark relationship evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must learn to rewrite her own story.


“Have you ever read Lolita?”

So begins seventeen-year-old Alisson’s metamorphosis from student to lover and then victim. A lonely and vulnerable high school senior, Alisson finds solace only in her writing—and in a young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. North.

Mr. North gives Alisson a copy of Lolita to read, telling her it is a beautiful story about love. The book soon becomes the backdrop to a connection that blooms from a simple crush into a devastating and dangerous bond. But as Mr. North’s hold on her tightens, Alisson is forced to evaluate how much of their narrative is actually a disturbing fiction.

In the wake of what becomes a deeply abusive relationship, Alisson is faced again and again with the story of her past, from rereading Lolita in college to working with teenage girls to becoming a professor of creative writing. It is only with that distance and perspective that she understands the ultimate power language has had on her—and how to harness that power to tell her own true story.

Being Lolita is a stunning coming-of-age memoir that shines a bright light on our shifting perceptions of consent, grooming, vulnerability, and power. This is the story of what happens when a young woman realizes her entire narrative must be rewritten—and then takes back the pen to rewrite it.

AS FEATURED IN THE HULU DOCUMENTARY KEEP THIS BETWEEN US

A dark relationship evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must...


Advance Praise

"A chilling and propulsive debut about the danger of being captive inside someone else's story, and the power of choosing your own." —Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me

"Being Lolita is a book of deep insight and bravery—and ultimately one of power. In the era of #MeToo, Wood’s voice will change things for the better." —Darin Strauss, bestselling author of Half a Life

"Being Lolita is an unflinching depiction of grooming and a searing indictment of exploitative teachers, but most of all it’s an act of redemption—a powerful realization of Wood’s vow 'to do the little I can to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen again.'" —Susan Choi, author of the National Book Award-winning Trust Exercise

"In Being Lolita, Alisson Wood traces one story of a teenage girl falling in love with her teacher, and then traces it again through the open lens of time and reflection. Each click of the aperture in this beautifully told memoir lets in more light, until the clouds of the past begin to part, allowing an image of a young woman to form on the page that is not fated to simply suffer at the hands of her abusers, but is able to break through the glass and live a life she can call her own." —Hannah Tinti, author of The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

"Being Lolita is a book of rare resonance, simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful in its ongoing desire for a world of integrity, sanity, and respect. You won’t forget it any time soon." —Paul Lisicky, author of Later: My Life at the Edge of the World 

"A chilling and propulsive debut about the danger of being captive inside someone else's story, and the power of choosing your own." —Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me

"Being...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781250217219
PRICE $26.99 (USD)
PAGES 304

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (EPUB)
Send to Kindle (EPUB)

Average rating from 122 members


Readers who liked this book also liked: