Incredibly confronting in a way that’s unlike any other book I’ve read. A lot of that comes down to Faludi’s careful balancing act, neither demonising male aggression as spontaneous hatred nor excusing it as the inevitable result of a troubled upbringing. Not only that, but she’s brilliant and drawing a massive array of case studies  together into a cohesive whole. Given how time- and space-specific her focus is, the book  itself is almost universally applicable. 20 years after it was published, and half a world away, Stiffed still hit me like a freight train.