Acquaintance rape, the subject of Jon Krakauer’s newest book, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, is a topic feminists have been writing about for decades with barely a head nod from the mainstream media. Now Krakauer’s book is being hailed as “fascinating,” “excellent,” and “a passionate, maddening jeremiad.” How should feminists feel about that? Understandably pissed off that it takes “a mansplainer’s guide to rape-is-bad,” as Jessica Valenti put it, to get so much … [Read more...]
Did NY Times Ethicists Get a Sneak Peak at My Novel?
A past acquaintance rape, a political candidate, a pesky reporter, a friend with a moral dilemma – these are all ingredients of my novel. And they were also the subject of a recent Ethicist column in the Sunday New York Times magazine. The letter-writer focused on one question only: “Do I Have to Tell About a Co-Worker’s Rape?” The political candidate wasn’t the rapist (unlike in my novel) and may never have known about the assault. The intern who was raped did tell higher-up’s in the … [Read more...]