An Unexpected Life.jpg
An Unexpected Life.jpg

An Unexpected Life by Gloria Steinem

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Hardcover:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her final memoir, Gloria Steinem offers a candid, inspiring portrait of her early life and journey as an activist, while looking ahead to the next chapters of the fight for equality—a rare opportunity to learn directly from one of feminism’s most enduring voices.

“In revisiting the equal-rights movements Steinem helped build, she offers wisdom to new generations.”—Vanity Fair

“An Unexpected Life is a luminous act of remembrance and generosity.”—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

Gloria Steinem's final memoir looks back across six decades of writing and organizing, moving between her early life and the present day. It revisits formative moments, from a childhood rat bite that exposed the dangers of poverty to the 1970 Women's March and her years in India.

An Unexpected Life weighs the progress and setbacks of the equal-rights movements she helped lead, along with the people who shaped her worldview.

Steinem, the writer and activist who co-founded Ms. magazine, also looks ahead, urging new generations toward bolder and more inclusive paths forward.

The tone is candid and reflective, built on personal stories rather than a policy argument.

The memoir arrives just after her death in September 2026, which lends its backward glance added weight.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her final memoir, Gloria Steinem offers a candid, inspiring portrait of her early life and journey as an activist, while looking ahead to the next chapters of the fight for equality—a rare opportunity to learn directly from one of feminism’s most enduring voices.

“In revisiting the equal-rights movements Steinem helped build, she offers wisdom to new generations.”—Vanity Fair

“An Unexpected Life is a luminous act of remembrance and generosity.”—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

Gloria Steinem's final memoir looks back across six decades of writing and organizing, moving between her early life and the present day. It revisits formative moments, from a childhood rat bite that exposed the dangers of poverty to the 1970 Women's March and her years in India.

An Unexpected Life weighs the progress and setbacks of the equal-rights movements she helped lead, along with the people who shaped her worldview.

Steinem, the writer and activist who co-founded Ms. magazine, also looks ahead, urging new generations toward bolder and more inclusive paths forward.

The tone is candid and reflective, built on personal stories rather than a policy argument.

The memoir arrives just after her death in September 2026, which lends its backward glance added weight.

  • Publisher: Random House

    Title: An Unexpected Life: A Memoir

    Author: Gloria Steinem

    On Sale Date: September 22, 2026

    ISBN 13: 978-0-593-97817-7

    ISBN 10: 059397817X

    Format: Hardcover

    Retail Price: $30.00

    Page Count: 256

    Dimensions: 5 x 7-1/2 inches

  • Gloria Steinem was a bestselling author, pioneering journalist, and co-founder of Ms. magazine who helped lead the feminist movement for more than six decades. She died in September 2026 at age 92, shortly before the publication of An Unexpected Life.

  • Critics and fellow authors are calling it luminous, essential, and beautiful:

    • Roxane Gay called the memoir a luminous act of remembrance and generosity, and a fiercely beautiful book.

    • Vanity Fair said it offers wisdom to new generations about what the next chapters of the fight for equality will demand.

    • The Guardian found Steinem the real thing and said it is simply a pleasure to spend time in her company.

    • Publishers Weekly called it essential reading.

This book is for you if

  • You admire Gloria Steinem and want her own account of how her activism took shape.

  • You're interested in the history of the women's movement and what comes next for equal-rights work.

  • You enjoy memoirs that move between early-life scenes and present-day reflection.

  • You appreciate a candid voice that weighs progress against setbacks.

  • You're looking for a compact memoir at 256 pages.

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