SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FICTION PRIZE 2017
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2018
'Brilliantly inventive and blazingly smart' Garth Greenwell
'Impossible, imperfect, unforgettable' Roxane Gay
'A wild thing ... covered in sequins and scales, blazing with the influence of fabulists from Angela Carter to Kelly Link and Helen Oyeyemi' New York Times
In her provocative debut, Carmen Maria Machado demolishes the borders between magical realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. Startling narratives map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited on their bodies, both in myth and in practice.
A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the mysterious green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague spreads across the earth. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery about a store's dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted house guest.
Bodies become inconsequential, humans become monstrous, and anger becomes erotic. A dark, shimmering slice into womanhood, Her Body and Other Parties is wicked and exquisite.
I think this just did not settle with my mood very well... DNFed at about 30% perhaps because of the heavy content of the short stories...this book does not hold back at all in showing the horrors afflicted on the female body as psyche, and I'm not sure if it aroused some form of dysphoria within me (as a nonbinary person) or what, but it made me sad. However, it is cleverly written and formatted, though I often times found myself wondering if I truly understood the meaning of the story or if this story simply brought me much contemplation and emotional stress.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
21 October, 2020:
Finished reading
-
21 October, 2020:
Reviewed