The thing to know about this book is that it's not a unified non-fiction treatment of its topic, but a somewhat disjointed series of efforts written at different times, often about sex panics and carceral approaches to scandalous events or court cases much-discussed in the news. I advise checking the date at the end of each essay before even reading it. But the author is so bold, and so insightful, in discussing these topics that this is really pure gold in terms of examining the implicit prurience and institutionalized "poisoned solidarity" that often obtains when we can as a group brand someone as a monster. "Anticipating retribution enlivens people ... and has accelerated into ordinary, terrible fun. Mercy is a scandal now. Reason almost is. Eros is a suspect, and satisfaction in the humiliation of enemy-others is so everyday that as a culture we seem incapable of recognizing it as an extension of the violence we deplore." Her recognition that sex is complicated and messy and embarrassing (and yes sometimes ugly, violent, or horrible), but also fun and liberating is a breath of fresh air compared to mainline discussions. In talking about the criminalization of teen sexting, she writes: "There is nothing new about teenagers being sexual and taking pictures, or indulging in fantasy; nothing new about the mixed thrill of having a secret and risking exposure, or sharing that secret, sometimes inelegantly. . . .The girl who has mastered the nude self-portrait may later regret its mass circulation, but she may also have got comfortable in her skin while taking pictures. . . . [There could be] a saner world than the one the grownups lecturing them have constructed, one where their life chances won't be ruined by a 'compromising' photograph on the internet." Her wide and freedom-loving perspective and what our society's dominant narrative says about that society are thoroughly worthwhile; highly recommended.