I have a hard time with short stories because I really like diving deep into a novel and getting lost in the sheer volume of words and worlds which makes it all the more remarkable how electrifying and engaging I found Her Body and Other Stories to be. Be prepared to be all too attached to this book, to physically itch to read it. I was completely enthralled from start to finish. This is the third collection of short stories I’ve read this year and holy […]
I can already say this will be my favourite of 2018.
I’ve read a lot of good books this year, but I feel confident that Her Body and Other Parties will be my favourite read of 2018. Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of short stories is nothing short of perfection, and brings everything I was looking for in a year of reading mostly feminist, female-identified, and woman-positive fiction writers. Every story in this collection is deliciously good, though, like many, my personal favourites are “The Husband Stitch,” “Real Women Have Bodies,” and “Eight Bites.” My least favourite was “Especially Heinous” but only because […]
26: Her Body and Other Parties
I’d heard of Her Body and Other Parties because I’d heard of Carmen Maria Machado’s short story, “The Husband Stitch.” If you’ve read it, you’ll also want to read this incredible piece from Electric Literature, which comments on the significance of the piece and why it is so difficult for women to be believed. It struck an incredible chord. When I saw the book at an independent bookstore for a conference, I broke my no-buy rule and acquired it. I read it over the week […]
Finally getting through a few story collections I have been picking at and one brand new one.
American Gothic Tales – Ed. Joyce Carol Oates 5/5 Stars Joyce Carol Oates knows her stuff. Her introduction to this collection her focus on the Gothic as the selection process makes this an incredibly satisfying collection because it’s not all one type of story. So while on the one had you do in fact get a bunch of ghost stories, you also get stories that are eerie or disturbing or full of murder, and you get stories that are off-putting but not directly scary stories, […]