by L. Timmel Duchamp  Read a sample from the book.
a Locus-recommended novella for 1995,
the year of its original publication
If countless numbers of people throughout history have wished for an early
menopause, probably no one wished more devoutly for it than Thomas
Aquinas. No doubt he literally prayed for it morning, noon, and night. A
picture comes to mind of him kneeling in his cell, pleading with the Virgin
for release from a burden even Job hadn't been forced to bear.
According to the Pentagon-owned-and-operated Past-Scan Device, Leonardo da
Vinci and Thomas Aquinas were both women in drag. Jane Pendler's advisor
says that's impossible, that the technology must be bogus, and pulls the
plug on Jane's dissertation research on Leonardo. What a feminist graduate
student to do? What else, but do the research behind her advisor's back, of
course...
Reviews
"A masterful exploration of sexual identity and sexual
mastery ...marvelously intricate..."
— Tangent (Summer 1995)
A Locus recommended novella for 1995, the year of its original publication.
"Duchamp's novella asks profound questions about the limits of our
historical knowledge, the socially constructed nature of knowledge, and the
gendered and sexual biases therein."
— Ritch Calvin, FemSpec, Vol.9, no.2 De Secretis Mulierum explains and elucidates on the relationship between the personal, the professional, and the political; the relationship between Pendler and Teddy is just one of a number of tools for doing this, and it works incredibly well.
This is the first Conversation Piece I have read, and it is fantastic; I highly recommend De Secretis Mulierum, especially to anyone planning to advance a theory that will buck the academic establishment! (Read the whole review)
—Intellectus Speculativus, Oct 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933500-24-9 (13 digit)
Publication Date: 2008.09.01
paperback 86 pages
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