Women's work
Pop History as Written by Women
The stories behind many beloved songs carry with them excitement, the spirit of the times, and unique destinies. But they are also marked by fundamental societal inequality. What is a given for men still represents an extra challenge and a battle for women. This is rarely as evident as it is in popular music.
Following the careers of pivotal female musicians from Billie Holiday through Kate Bush to Björk therefore doesn't just mean examining the evolution of music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—it is also a story of emancipation and social change that transcends music. The book Ženská práce (Women's Work) portrays the work and lives of numerous female singers and songwriters who transformed both music and the world. Through the stories of Nina Simone, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, but also Yoko Ono and Laurie Anderson, it tells of the approaches, themes, and possibilities that would never have been reflected in today's musical landscape without their will to step forward, be uncompromising, or wrestle with all manner of circumstances.
Pavel Klusák's book testifies that pop culture is an eloquent reflection of the world, its battles, and its transformations, while also highlighting a wealth of fantastic and inspiring music by important female artists that continues to resonate with a wide audience today, regardless of gender.
- From the author of the bestsellers Gott and Suchý a Šlitr
- The book is based on a successful podcast
What they wrote about the book:
Reading Ženská práce got me out of a creative crisis. In many of the stories, I found parallels with my own problems and joys of the authorial life, and the inspiration to write more boldly. Pavel Klusák knows a lot about female artists and understands them. In his brilliant book, he writes about inspiring women and broader contexts with enormous insight and, at the same time, with a light touch.
- Katarzia, musician and producer
Pavel Klusák
(b. 1969) is a music journalist and writer. He received two Magnesia Litera awards for his critical biography about the life and times of the Czechoslovak pop star, Gott. A Czechoslovak Story (2021). He dedicated the guide-prose on values in music, Inside the Banana (2021), to musical radicals and outsiders. He continued to map Czechoslovak pop culture in the book Suchý and Šlitr. Semafor 1959–69 (2024). He works for radio and television and is a festival programme director. His play Agnetha Calls S.O.S. is staged by the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre.
Specifications
Basic
Format & type of protection
| Code: | EK60303 |
| Manufacturer information |
EUROMEDIA GROUP a.s., Nádražní 762/32, Praha 5-Smíchov 15000, Česká republika, www.euromedia.cz 
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