The universe wants me to read early feminist fiction.

[d_aulnoy]

 No, really, it does! 

The other day, one of the older professors in the department staged a massive cleaning of her office, and invited students to come and pillage her shelves.  It was a lovely glimpse into an academic's life: this woman, whom I've never taken a class with, had a beautiful selection of metaphysical works and late 19th century editions; she also had a few diet books from the 70's, and vampire novels, some fairly shallow but prettily bound books of Arthuriana which must have been gifts from departing students, and a scattering of Marge Piercy and Alice Adams.  I could see her character, clearly deliniated, just by looking at her shelves, and I quite liked the outline that formed.  It makes me wonder what people will be able to tell from my office, should I eventually be so fortunate as to possess one ...

But, naturally, feeling no one else would appreciate them properly, I bundled the Piercy and the Adams home (along with some 19th century pieces ... I'm sentimental, not stupid).  I'd read the Piercy - Small Changes - before, and though it's bleaker now then it was when I took it home from the library as a precocious 11 year old, that's probably due to my being able to comprehend more of it.  The collection of short stories from Adams, Beautiful Girl, was also familiar.  But the other one, somewhat uneuphniously titled Careless Love, made me wonder if it was the same Alice Adams ... between the title and the awful dime store cover, I wondered if it was someone else going for top-rack billing.  But, nope!  It was her, all right ... and the novel painted an interesting picture of contemporay life for a single woman in the late 70's, early 80's.  It also listed a few other early and out of print works, and I made a careless mental note to keep an eye out for them at second-hand shops.

Yesterday?  I found Listening to Billie on the "Free" shelf at Barnard.  So ... since I can't expect the universe to keep flinging them at me willy-nilly, I'll take a hint when it waves its tie-dye wearing fist at me ... would anybody happen to have any suggestions along similar lines for me?  Works similar to Adams or Piercy or Rita Mae Brown's In Her Day or The Women's Room?  C'mon, you know you want me to tell you all about them earnestly over herbal teas some day ...