My Life on the Road

Summary:

Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. This is the story at the heart of “My Life on the Road”. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

I loved this book so much because it made me think.  Not because I agreed with everything that Steinem believes or because I even think that her approach to things is always the most logical, but because I really thought long and hard in response to many of the ideas she presented.  I love her willingness to tackle the seemingly impossible challenges.

This book is anecdotal and jumps around in timeline, but I think it makes it a more effective story.  Steinem is not giving a dissertation on the progress, steps and what is next, but rather a reflection of a rich and full life.  I had not heard of many of the people she worked with and I already purchased Wilma Mankiller’s book to read in the near future! 

Most of all, this book is a love affair with travel.  Physical travel, emotional travel and the growth that comes from throwing yourself into uncomfortable situations.  This book challenged perspectives, but in the way that felt like a friend tapping me on the shoulder as opposed to having agenda’s shoved down my throat.  I would have liked to see more statistics and references (I was listening on audiobook so maybe there are footnotes in the book), but regardless I have a few more things to research.

Rating: 5 stars!

Who should read it? Anyone who is intrigued by equality rights and is not so sure about the idea of equality.