ABSTRACT

In the introduction to their book on women's experimental fiction, Friedman and Fuchs rightfully place Kathy Acker's work at the forefront of contemporary feminist experimental writing. Stylistically, Acker suddenly shifts from topic to topic, plagiarizing at will, radically altering format and content, switching genres back and forth, and adding childish pornographic sketches. She admits she at times writes poorly purposefully: 'yes, sure - 'piss, fuck, shit' scrawled over a page - sure, of course. This appalls the literary establishment' ('Conversation' 22). By challenging the structure of writing, Acker attempts to challenge the politics behind writing.