Rachel Krantz
“A big part of the statement I’m trying to make in this book is that I’m both things: I am a sexual being, an adult human female animal, and I am a journalist who has done years of research and reporting and I’m demanding that you take this topic and me seriously.”
“[A] sincere and curious reckoning with the cultural messaging we all receive about gendered expectations and power dynamics in romantic and sexual relationships,”
“Krantz, a founding editor of the website Bustle, chose to enter a relationship where ‘nothing was off limits.’ But there were limits. Even as her partner espoused sexual freedom, he employed manipulative measures—and, Krantz admits, so did she. Her breathtaking honesty in probing the serious downsides of polyamory while eschewing outmoded patriarchal codes of morality should allow for an overdue dialogue about what makes any relationship work.”
“Heavily researched and incredibly vulnerable.”
“Titillating . . . Krantz sweeps readers into a narrative that seduces and educates in equal measure . . . [Open] offers an alluring and insightful look at a life lived outside of conventional structures.”
Rachel Krantz is the author of the reported memoir, Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy (Harmony Books, 2022)
She is the namer of Bustle, and one of its three founding editors. At Bustle, she served as Senior Features Editor for three years, and Senior News Editor before that. She also worked at The Daily Beast as Homepage Editor, and at the nonprofit Mercy For Animals as Lead Writer.
She’s the recipient of the Peabody Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights International Radio Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Radio Award, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for her work as an investigative reporter with YR Media.
She was the host of the Bustle podcast Honestly Though, a show about taboo topics recommended by The Guardian. Her work has been featured on Vox, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, NPR, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, High Times, AFAR, Vice, USA Today, Buzzfeed Books, Publishers Weekly, Salon, Marie Claire, VegNews Magazine, and many other outlets.
In an interview with Marie Claire, she was asked what she hoped people would take away from Open: “So many things. First of all, I hope to foster more love and openness and less shame, and also a greater empathy for people who are living different lifestyles. And maybe if people see themselves in these stories, they’ll have a greater compassion for themselves and also maybe for the people who hurt them. I hope it opens up conversations in relationships of potentially more expansive possibilities, because I think there’s a lot in between total monogamy and total relationship anarchy that might benefit a lot of couples. A lot of people are feeling like something’s wrong with them or their relationships because they have these desires. But maybe there are some options that would actually be quite fun that wouldn’t challenge jealousy that much. You see in the book a lot of different options, a lot of different outcomes, the pitfalls and the pros and cons.”
She is on the advisory board for Sentient Media and the board of directors of Our Hen House. She lives and writes in the Bay Area.
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