No, Claudine, I do not shudder. All that is life, time
flowing on, the hoped-for miracle that may lie round the
next bend of the road. It is because of my faith in that
miracle that I am escaping.
Colette,
Acknowledgments
I thank especially Elaine Markson, Jeannette Koszuth, Sheryl Dare,
Susan Hester, John Stoltenberg, Eleanor Johnson, and Judah Kata-
loni for their unwavering support and faith.
I also thank the many friends whose lives, opinions, values, and accomplishments encouraged and inspired me during the years in which these stories were written.
I
also thank the many individuals who helped me to survive with
loans and gifts of money over the same period.
Andrea Dworkin
Contents
1
the simple story of a lesbian girlhood
1
2
bertha schneiders existential edge
6
3
how seasons pass
11
4
some awful facts, recounted by bertha schneider
15
5
the new womans broken heart
6
the wild cherries of lust
7
bertha schneiders unrelenting sadness
8
the slit
the simple story of a lesbian girlhood
it began quite possibly with Nancy Drew.
there she was.
her father Carson was a lawyer and her boyfriend Ned always wore
a suit.
she solved mysteries.
in particular I remember
was, her hands tied behind her back, her feet tied together, thrown
