Beautiful Bottom, Beautiful Shame

“ [The book] breaks down the false divisions between emotions and strategy as well as between culture and politics, and thus serves as an important lesson for those of us engaged in social justice activism and for those of us who study culture, sexuality, emotions, and politics.” - Elizabeth Kaminski, Signs

“Beautiful Bottom, Beautiful Shame explores the subterranean passages of Shame. She deftly uncovers the way shame has shaped the identities of queer and black communities in literature and film. She elegantly undresses the artists who crawl, sweat and pull themselves through the dark underbelly of guilt and debasement. Her work is both invitation and seduction.” - Troy Williams, Radio Active, KRCL

“Like the best queer theory, Beautiful Bottom calls for new modes of reading that break down the distinctions of subject and object animating many identity projects. . . . [E]very sentence is weighed for attraction and delight.” - Tavia Nyong’o, GLQ

“Stockton’s strength is in her consideration of texts (broadly defined) that ‘end in an impasse, without a clear message or political program, unable to solve all the problems they pose’.” - Mark Fulk, American Literature

“This is a book for those with a strong bent for critical theory. Recommended.” - J. Pruitt, Choice

“Beautiful Bottom, Beautiful Shame is an exciting, pointed, splendidly written, culturally important book.” - Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, author of Touching Feeling: Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity