An Unexpected Life - Large Print by Gloria Steinem (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - In her final memoir, Gloria Steinem offers a candid, inspiring portrait of her early life and journey as an activist, while looking ahead to the next chapters of the fight for equality--a rare opportunity to learn directly from one of feminism's most enduring voices.

"In revisiting the equal-rights movements Steinem helped build, she offers wisdom to new generations."--Vanity Fair

"An Unexpected Life is a luminous act of remembrance and generosity."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

Before she became a feminist leader, Gloria Steinem was a curious child: going on road trips with her itinerant father, caring for her mother, and devouring every book she could find. In An Unexpected Life, Steinem reflects on the unlikely experiences and pivotal moments--from a childhood rat bite that opened her eyes to the dangers of poverty to the 1970 Women's March honoring the right to vote--that shaped the visionary woman she would become.

She shares her years living in India, learning from the nonviolent movement there, and her travels around the world advocating for women's rights. Along the way, she honors the people who influenced her most, including trailblazers, writers, and thinkers who expanded her understanding of power, community, justice, and solidarity.

Moving between past and present, Steinem examines the progress and setbacks of six decades of activism. As she reflects on the movements she helped build and the victories won for women's and human rights, she also looks ahead, urging new generations to imagine bolder, more inclusive paths forward.

Intimate, funny, and rich with hard-earned wisdom, An Unexpected Life offers inspiration as we continue the work of building a better future for all.

Review Quotes

"A luminous act of remembrance and generosity. This is a fiercely beautiful book about how we survive, how we learn, how we keep faith with one another, and how an unexpected life can become a formidable force for freedom and connection."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

"In revisiting the equal-rights movements Steinem helped build, she offers wisdom to new generations about what the next chapters of the fight for equality will demand."--Vanity Fair

"[An Unexpected Life] will stand as posthumous testament to the 92-year-old icon. . . . The book's opening pages unfold with a deep, added poignancy. . . . The book offers us an opportunity to go back over Steinem's hardscrabble origins in Toledo, Ohio, and the roots of her activism. This is where it all happened, the formation of a women who would come to define second wave feminism. . . . Steinem is the real thing. . . . It's a pleasure, simply, to spend time in her company."--The Guardian

"Gloria Steinem deserves to be remembered as a writer too. She may have aspired once to be a woman of letters, to lead a more solitary life dedicated to the written word. But the time and the place she was born into did not have very many spaces like that for women. So again and again, she put aside her own comfort and her own literary aspirations and went out to do what she could to change the world."--The New York Times

"The late founder of Ms. and queen mother of American second-wave feminism narrates her trajectory from Midwestern rules-follower to politically conscious Smith student to fervent activist who sought to braid communities of women across lines of race, class, and sexual identity, with cameos by Jane Fonda, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Betty Friedan."--Time

"An Unexpected Life reads, maybe presciently, as a nudge to younger generations to keep up the good fight, to notice the wins where they happen, and to not get discouraged. Things were, she keeps reminding us in this book, much, much worse. . . . A delight to read."--Slate

"Gloria Steinem's posthumous memoir leaves us with these life lessons. . . . A sobering read on Steinem's philosophies and community, particularly because she was still so forward-looking . . . a wide-ranging essay collection, with stories from Steinem's childhood to meditations on change."--USA Today

"Gloria Steinem has long been, and will forever be, the light guiding the way for so many of us. Her energy, passion, clarity, and unrelenting optimism have invigorated generations of women to channel our rage into change. Her entire life has been a love letter and a battle cry."--Jameela Jamil, actor, writer, and advocate

"Both an engrossing self-portrait and a useful political handbook, this is essential reading."--Publishers Weekly

"Vignettes from a life of activism, writing, speaking, and service, mined for insights and advice . . . Steinem's second memoir, following My Life on the Road, is a mostly grateful, sometimes rueful accounting of the people and places that have shaped her ninety-two years on earth."--Kirkus Reviews

"[Steinem] homes in on what's essential in this spare but powerful reflection. . . . With unabashed generosity, Steinem celebrates those who have shared her unconventional and iconic life as she continues to guide generations to come."--Booklist

About the Author

Gloria Steinem is a writer, activist, and cofounder of Ms. magazine. A bestselling author and pioneering journalist, she has been a central figure in feminist movements worldwide for more than six decades. Gloria's home is the heart of Gloria's Foundation and has become renowned as a magnetic and life-changing center for feminists and activist thinkers from around the world.