Hot (flash) takes, symptom by symptom, of The Change: Steamy is a raucous menopause memoir.

Half the population will face the horrors of menopause at some point, but even the medical profession can’t figure out what to do about it. Insomnia (#9), irritability (#24), increases in weight (#34): facing all that, we may have to conclude that laughter might be the best medicine for menopause.

Steamy explores the cascading list of symptoms people can face when going through The Change (including 2. Hot Flashes, 21. Anxiety, and 45. Fewer Shits). In this comic memoir, Holbrook opens up an experience still constrained by cultural silences and myths. Steamy is honest, vulnerable, gross, and might just be the funniest book you’ve ever read about menopause, or anything else (see 37. Bloating).

With bonus tear-out fan!

Susan Holbrook’s poetry books are Ink Earl (Coach House 2021), Throaty Wipes (Coach House 2016), Joy Is So Exhausting (Coach House 2009), and misled (Red Deer 1999). Her most recent publication is Canon (Zed 2022), a chapbook featuring great works of literature translated through a calculator. She has also written a textbook, How to Read (and Write About) Poetry (Broadview Press 2021), and edited Intertidal: Daphne Marlatt--The Collected Earlier Poems (Talonbooks) and The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson: Composition as Conversation (Oxford UP). Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award, the Trillium Book Award, the Trillium Award for Poetry, and the Pat Lowther Award. She teaches Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor. She lives in Leamington, Ontario.

Susan Holbrook's profile page

“A refreshing, irreverent, no-effs-left-to-give exploration and meditation on what it means to grow older and go through menopause. This “memopause” is a sparkling pause - a bawdy, revelatory, profane, and genius celebration of the body and bodies. I loved this book.” – Suzette Mayr, author of The Sleeping Car Porter

“[A] profoundly grip-roarious collection showcasing the wordsmith's wry wit and wondrous willingness to turn notions of poetry and poetics ipso-nutzo topso-turvy in her seek-and-enjoy methodology.” – The Globe and Mail on Joy is So Exhausting