Jane J. Mansbridge

A professor of political science at Harvard University, Jane J. Mansbridge is the author of Beyond Adversary Democracy and Why We Lost the ERA, among other books. When asked in a 2020 interview what books she loved growing up, she replied, “I lived in the country, and I didn’t have any friends nearby, and I read lots and lots of things in my parents’ bookcases, most of which were above my comprehension. I remember I brought a magazine from school that had some sexy stuff in it. My mother was very disapproving, and she said, ‘Well, if you want to read things about sex, you should read James Joyce’s Ulysses.’ I did, but I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. I kept asking, ‘Where’s the sexy part?’ ”