Booksmith is thrilled to host Elissa Bassist, creator and editor of The Rumpus' "Funny Women" column, for her memoir Hysterical. Roxane Gay calls it "one of the most intelligent, painful, ridiculous, awesome, relevant things I've ever read." Elissa will be in conversation with Tracy Clark-Flory, author of Want Me: A Sex Writer's Journey into the Heart of Desire. Join us to celebrate Elissa's debut and her return to San Francisco!

PLEASE NOTE: Advance sales for this event have ended, but we will have seats available at the door.

Please note:

• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event, capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing, and we'll have extra ventilation in place. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order the Book + Seat ticket through this link; you can also RSVP for a free seat right here while supplies last.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Hysterical: order a Book + Seat ticket bundle if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy.
• You can order Want Me by Tracy Clark-Flory here.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Accessibility is important to us. If you have any special requests, please let us know as soon as possible and we will do our absolute best to accommodate you.
• Questions? Write [email protected].

About the book

Between 2016 and 2018, Elissa Bassist saw over twenty medical professionals for a variety of mysterious ailments. Bassist had what millions of American women had: pain that didn’t make sense to doctors, a body that didn’t make sense to science, a psyche that didn’t make sense to mankind. But then an acupuncturist suggested some of her physical pain could be caged fury finding expression, and that treating her voice would treat the problem. It did.

Growing up, Bassist's family, boyfriends, school, work, and television had the same expectation for a woman’s voice: less is more. She was called dramatic and insane for speaking her mind; she was accused of overreacting and playing victim for having unexplained physical pain; she was ignored or rebuked like women throughout history for using her voice “inappropriately” by expressing sadness or suffering or anger or joy. 

Because of this, she said “yes” when she meant “no”; she didn’t tweet #MeToo; and she never spoke without fear of being "too emotional." So, she felt rage, but like a good woman, repressed it. In Hysterical, Bassist explains how girls and women internalize and perpetuate directives about their voice, making it hard to emote or “just speak up” and “burn down the patriarchy.” But her silence hurt more than anything she could ever say. Hysterical is a memoir of a voice lost and found, and a primer on new ways to think about a woman’s voice, where it’s being squashed and where it needs amplification. Bassist breaks her own silences and calls on others to do the same—to unmute their voice, listen to it above all others, and use it again without regret.

About the authors

Elissa Bassist is an essayist, humor writer, and editor of the “Funny Women” column on The Rumpus. As a founding contributor to The Rumpus, she’s written cultural, feminist, and personal criticism since the website launched in 2009. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Creative Nonfiction, NewYorker.com, Longreads, and more, including the anthology Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture, edited by Roxane Gay. Currently, she teaches writing at The New School, Catapult, 92nd Street Y, and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn and is probably her therapist’s favorite. Author photo by Mindy Tucker.

Tracy Clark-Flory is a senior staff writer at Jezebel, where she writes about feminism, gender, motherhood, pop culture, sex, technology, and more. She's the author of the memoir Want Me: A Sex Writer's Journey into the Heart of Desire (Penguin, 2021), which New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Traister calls "intimate, challenging, and so very smart.” She's written for Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Marie Claire, Salon, The Guardian, Women's Health, and many others.

Please note:

• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event, capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing, and we'll have extra ventilation in place. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order the Book + Seat ticket through this link; you can also RSVP for a free seat right here while supplies last.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Hysterical: order a Book + Seat ticket bundle if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy.
• You can order Want Me by Tracy Clark-Flory here.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Accessibility is important to us. If you have any special requests, please let us know as soon as possible and we will do our absolute best to accommodate you.
• Questions? Write [email protected].