In a review of her 2014 novel, 'An Untamed State,' Time magazine declared 'let this be the year of Roxane Gay.' Her renown had only begun to blossom. Equal parts teacher, novelist, memoirist and cultural critic, the 40-year-old Haitian-American and Purdue University English professor can pick apart prejudice lying beneath the surface of a piece of art but still make reading about it a deeply personal experience. She'll crush authors or filmmakers for perpetuating stereotypes while acknowledging their point of view.
Her words can glide but they also can stomp. Reading her is like watching a virtuoso modern dancer.
Heartfelt, witty, wrenchingly personal, socially conscious, Gay has the intellectual verve of an academic, the wit of a popular writer and the intimacy of an old friend - the one who invites you over on a Friday night to chomp on Doritos while cracking up, then falling asleep to 'The Real Housewives.' She may dub herself 'Bad Feminist,' but Roxane Gay might just be the best type of feminist for these times.
