ADVANCE PRAISE

“Unspeakable Acts is an important and urgent book. Princenthal’s trenchant, honest, complex exploration of the radical representations of sexual violence in the 1970s delineates the upheaval of implicit assumptions about rape, bodies, silence and speech in particular works by individual artists in light of their broader artistic and political meanings and lasting consequences. I read it with breathless, captive attention.”
- Siri Hustvedt, author of "The Blazing World and Memories of the Future

“Nancy Princenthal speaks of the unspeakable brilliantly, bravely, thoroughly, and thoughtfully. She addresses art, literature, theatre, film and video games... and the real life politics they reflect, offering a long overdue look at creative coverage of rape, domestic violence, and other acts. In the process she has also written one of the best recent books on feminist arts.”
- Lucy R. Lippard, writer and activist

“Princenthal, with meticulous grace, illuminates the tumultuous era that gave rise to the groundbreaking performance-based works she discusses, examining representations of sexual violence, feminist and otherwise, in the larger culture. Arriving not a moment too soon, this rich text brings the radical innovations and unfinished business of the second wave to bear upon our present, increasingly high-stakes struggle for bodily autonomy—and our vision for art’s role in it”.
-- Johanna Fateman Ed., Last Days at Hot Slit: The Radical Feminism of Andrea Dworkin