A Different Kind of Intimacy: The Collected Writings of Karen Finley

Every time I think of U My Virginia starts 2 bleed & Jesus is my savior she knows just what I need Every time I dream of U I get so wet inside Jesus is my savior Satan is my bride

I saw Karen Finley in Charleston SC years ago. I had no idea what to expect....I had never heard of her before. The tardy Ms. Finley entered the auditorium from the back, totally naked. I knew then that she was like no other person on earth. She yelled and screamed her stories, her anger , her pain....our pain....to the gods above. Through out the performance she gradually clothed herself until she ended the performance fully dressed. I was dumbfounded, changed...and I fully understood how her nudity was necessary to her art...to her connection with her audience. For years I search for information on this woman, hoping to see another performance....to again experience what I felt that night. Catharsis. I was thrilled when an internet search brought me here, to her memoirs. This book did not disappoint. It gave great insight into the life of this very strange, and gifted woman. Though everyone may not agree with her beliefs and politics, they have to admire her intelligence and strength. One suggestion Ms.Finley, get a website so people like myself can let you know how you've made a difference in their lives.R.Renn

forget what you think you know about karen finley, because unless you've actually been to one of her performances and/or read her essays, you don't know much. okay. so let's forget about the yams, the chocolate, the nudity, the naughty words and all of that. just for the space of this review, humor me. still with me? karen finley is amazing. she is the (unwilling) joan of arc of pop culture as we know it. she dared to deconstruct dysfunction, patriarchal power junkies, AIDS hysteria, sexism, homophobia....okay, you get the idea...and she tackled all these things, and so many more subjects, on a human level, on a confrontational level, with compassion and parody combined, with anger and love combined, espousing politically correct ideas in a very unpolitically correct voice during very PC times. while this book is not a "compilation", per se, it is a kind of experimental autobiography, with big chunks of finley's work interspersed throughout - sort of a show and tell exhibit in a book. it works. it's immensely, addictively readable, and quite user-friendly for such a confrontational artist. the only frustration i had with this work was the ending, which frustrated and disappointed me, though the discouraging ending could easily be yet another performance art prank served finley style.....

Karen Finley's latest book, both a memoir and a collection of her work is a window into the life of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Karen Finley has always flown in the face of convention creating work that is both political and personal, challenging and difficult, redemptive and healing. As one of the now famous NEA Four she became Jesse Helms' favorite whipping woman in his plot to further toss American back to the 1950s foreverIn her book Karen Finley shares pieces from her acclaimed performances and books as well as insights into her life at the time she was working on them and the events that helped shape her work throughout the years. From friends and loved ones dying of AIDS, to her own battles with censorship, the suicide of her father and the many evolutions her work has gone through the reader is priveleged to share intimate details of her life and be even more changed and challenged by her work.This books is a must have for any artist, activist, thinker, woman, man, whoever. To read it is to confront your own fears, demons, priveleges, biases and secrets.