Product Overview
The inspirational memoir of a woman who survived a brutal sexual assault and went on to become a university professor.
In College Girl, a university professor revisits the memory of a brutal sexual assault and recounts her long, circuitous route from trauma to recovery. Offering present-day reflections alongside the fresh, hopeful voice of the twenty-year-old student she once was, Laura Gray-Rosendale tells the story of her near destruction and her familys disintegration, but also one of abiding friendships and shining hope. In the end, College Girl is also a story about stories, and a meditation on memoir itself.
Gray-Rosendale writes in a tone that is simply unforgettablegritty, humorous, and raw. Artfully written and devoid of self-pity, College Girl is a rich story of triumph, hope, and survival.
From the college girl she was before the incident, all the way through the lengthy process of recovery, Lauras story is a beautifully written exploration of trauma and the way it is remembered College Girl is an unforgettably sharp glimpse into not just one womans struggle with the emotional consequences of rape, but the role it plays in the life of anyone associated with the incident. Portland Book Review
College Girl can feel unrelentingly bleak, at times almost difficult to read: Gray-Rosendale pulls no punches in her depiction of her rape and its aftermath. But the book is far more than just an inventory of traumas; while Gray-Rosendale suffers setbacks and relapses, her overall trajectory is ever upward. And even as she tells her own story, she engages directly with memoir as a genreits uses and limitations, particularly for survivors of traumaestablishing her own narrative while simultaneously laying bare the elements and methods of its construction. Inside Higher Ed
College Girl is an exceptionally well-written, gripping rarity. Though the book tells the story of a horrific rape, it is, in fact, about the attacks aftermathfor its perpetrator, its victim, each of their families, and beyond. It is about the dividing line between bravery and cowardice. It is about human beings behaving extraordinarily, under almost unthinkable circumstances. By relentlessly continuing to expand her examination beyond herself, Laura Gray-Rosendale has created something of great importance not only to individuals, but to society. Evan Handler, actor and author of Time on Fire: My Comedy of Terrors
College Girl is a monumental achievement that ranges from memoir to cultural critique to documentary nonfiction, but its also a stunning study in prose stylings that reaches from the sublime to the grotesque. Lyrical, repulsive, elegant, and hideous,College Girl is expressed in language so thought-provoking, so astute, that we cannot help but be right there with her. I urge all of us to engage with and learn from this deeply important bookand never, ever forget. Kass Fleisher, author of Dead Woman Hollow
Words like brave or honest usually used to describe a memoir of trauma and recovery dont even come close to capturing this searingly painful, unflinchingly self-reflective, and painstakingly subtle memoir. With not a hint of self-congratulation, and in language as jagged-edged as the events themselves, coupled with long languid reflective passages, College Girl achieves something truly rare and unsettlinga story of such brutality that is also, oddly, almost beautiful in its telling. Michael Kimmel, author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men
