Praise for Madonna & Me
“For someone who has spent the past thirty years defending Madonna to whoever would listen, Madonna & Me is like a homecoming. Reading these smart, funny, and moving essays by women who were influenced by the material girl brought me right back to my school years, when I was touched by Madonna for the very first time.”
—DEBBIE STOLLER, co-founder and editor-in-chief of BUST magazine
“Sure, one Madonna gave birth to Jesus—but our Madonna gave birth to femme-inism. If you’ve forgotten why you should worship Madge, this hilarious, provocative collection is like a prayer to the patron saint of girl power.”
—JENNIFER BAUMGARDNER, author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future, Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics, and F’ em!: Goo Goo, Gaga, and Some Thoughts on Balls
“When I first heard the song ‘Everybody’ in 1982, I ran right out and bought the ‘cas-single.’ Now, thirty years later, I greedily read everything about Madonna I can get my hands on. Madonna is one of those rare public figures who elicit a lifelong, intensely personal fixation, making this collection of essays a giddy pleasure. By turns hilarious, thought-provoking, and touching, Madonna & Me is a fitting salute to the smart, brash, occasionally infuriating provocateur, who is always offering us something new.”
—JANCEE DUNN, music journalist for Rolling Stone, Vogue, and The New York Times, and author of Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo? And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask
“Finally, an anthology that speaks to the blisteringly potent influence Madonna has had on women of our generation.”
—JULIE KLAUSNER, author of I Don’t Care About Your Band
“Madonna & Me is a collection as saucy and savvy as Madonna herself. In heartfelt and incisive ways, the contributors engage with an icon who deeply impacted the identities, sexual and otherwise, of an entire generation of girls.”
—JILLIAN LAUREN, New York Times-bestselling author of Some Girls: My Life in a Harem
“Though it was written entirely by women, Madonna & Me can easily hold the interest of non-Madonna fans and even male readers, which is (sadly) no small feat. Highly recommended for anyone interested in music, pop culture, women’s lives, and smart personal essays with heart.”
—SCOTT LAPATINE, founder and editor-in-chief of Stereogum, named one of Entertainment Weekly’s Best Music Websites
“The writers in Madonna & Me explore all that Madonna has meant to more than one generation of feisty, feminist, powerful women. They dive into her music, persona, and legacy, expressing themselves in ways that would surely give even Her Madgesty food for thought.”
—RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL, editor of Women in Lust and Best Sex Writing 2012
“In Madonna & Me, editor Laura Barcella shows how Madonna has become a cultural benchmark for women of varying backgrounds. Reaching far beyond pop-culture critique, the essays in this book examine Madonna—both the woman and the legend—as an allegory of the modern female experience.”
—STEVE LOWENTHAL, music writer for SPIN and the Village Voice, and founder of Swingset magazine