{"product_id":"girls-play-dead","title":"Girls Play Dead","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter a childhood spent learning survival strategies in the wilderness, Jen Percy thought she knew how she would respond in\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"atm_keep-reading-flag\"\u003e\u003csmall\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa fa-arrow-down\"\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/small\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e the face of danger. But a series of unsettling interactions with men left her feeling betrayed and confounded by her body's passivity. Forced to reckon the myths of her own empowerment, Percy set off a broader inquiry into the way fear shapes behavior in the context of sexual violence, including the strange behaviors of three generations of women in her family. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e         \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDrawing on original reporting, years of conversations with survivors, and her own life story, Percy explores the surprising ways in which responses to sexual violence are shaped by both evolutionary instinct and gendered scripts. She takes on taboo subjects—orgasms during assault, sexual promiscuity, female rage, freezing and passivity—illuminating how society misreads these acts as deviance or consent, rather than brilliant acts of self-preservation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLike Joan Didion, Katherine Boo, and Janet Malcolm, Percy is a fearless cultural critic with a talent for wresting deep truths from lived experiences. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eGirls Play Dead\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e meaningfully expands the language available to survivors and complicates our expectations of how a trauma story should sound—especially when belief, justice, and healing are contingent on how well a story “makes sense.” Percy examines how trauma corrupts storytelling itself, making survivors’ accounts seem fractured or surreal—and therefore less credible to institutions demanding coherence—resulting in an ambitious testament to the mind as a record of resilience.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDETAILS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e5.75\" x 8.5\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e259 Pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJEN PERCY is a contributing writer at the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Magazine and recipient of the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing. She is the author of the nonfiction book \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDemon Camp\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, which was a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNotable Book. Percy has received numerous awards including a Pushcart Prize, the National Endowment for the Arts grant, and fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the MacDowell Colony. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Percy has published essays in the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Magazine, The New York Times Sunday Book Review, Harper's, BookForum, The New Republic, Esquire,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and elsewhere. She teaches writing at Columbia University.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jen Percy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47113619144925,"sku":null,"price":39.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0276\/1133\/2701\/files\/SEANDONOTEDIT-GREYSQAURE_52.png?v=1765837216","url":"https:\/\/www.rileygrae.com\/products\/girls-play-dead","provider":"Riley Grae Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}