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I was surprised to realize In the Dream House was published by an indie publisher, because it had such great marketing. Then I thought back and realized I don't think it actually did have a ton of marketing- it was mostly word of mouth and excellent reviews, and I really wanted to read it. Whether there were big bucks put into the launch of this book or not, two things are true: In the Dream House was published by Graywolf Press, an independent, nonprofit press; and In the Dream House deserves every excellent review it has and will receive.
In terms of formatting, the way In the Dream House is broken up into dozens of little chapters (if that's the right word- I think "lenses" might also be accurate) makes it so it is possible to linger over one, to stop and reread it and even close the book just to think about it, but it's also incredibly easy to read one more, just another, ok I have to go but first I'll just read the next two, and maybe the two after that as well. The footnotes, more often than not references to Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, add another lens to the story: it's a folk tale, a fairy tale, something academic. Several chapters really stood out to me- Dream House as Queer Villainy; Dream House as Gothic Horror; Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure; Dream House as Deja Vu; Dream House as Deja Vu; Dream House as Deja Vu. This isn't to diminish the other chapters. Those are just the ones that hit me hardest. The second-person perspective throughout most of the book is incredibly effective
In terms of writing, In the Dream House is gorgeous and haunting and tragic. In some places it is very stark, and in some it seems to obscure what happened, and throughout I read a tenderness for the person she was. It's beautiful. I was a fan of her writing before, and I continue to be a fan. Talking about her writing is difficult for me, because I just want to shake my hands in the air and go "It's really good, ok?!"
It's really good, ok?
In terms of subject matter, In the Dream House is simple- it's a reflection on an abusive relationship. Except it isn't actually simple, because what relationship is? And, as Machado points out, it's complicated by the fact they are both women, and by the fact the woman in the Dream House is tiny and white and blonde, and Machado is none of those things. It's also about her life, and what led up to the woman in the Dream House, and what influenced Machado, and reflections from the future. And it is about the queer community, or parts of it, and heteronormative society, and abusive relationships in general. And it's about margins, ephemera, negative space.
I got my copy of In the Dream House from the library. In March of this year, the paperback edition comes out, and I'm definitely going to buy it (I prefer paperbacks).
It's really good, ok?
In terms of formatting, the way In the Dream House is broken up into dozens of little chapters (if that's the right word- I think "lenses" might also be accurate) makes it so it is possible to linger over one, to stop and reread it and even close the book just to think about it, but it's also incredibly easy to read one more, just another, ok I have to go but first I'll just read the next two, and maybe the two after that as well. The footnotes, more often than not references to Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, add another lens to the story: it's a folk tale, a fairy tale, something academic. Several chapters really stood out to me- Dream House as Queer Villainy; Dream House as Gothic Horror; Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure; Dream House as Deja Vu; Dream House as Deja Vu; Dream House as Deja Vu. This isn't to diminish the other chapters. Those are just the ones that hit me hardest. The second-person perspective throughout most of the book is incredibly effective
In terms of writing, In the Dream House is gorgeous and haunting and tragic. In some places it is very stark, and in some it seems to obscure what happened, and throughout I read a tenderness for the person she was. It's beautiful. I was a fan of her writing before, and I continue to be a fan. Talking about her writing is difficult for me, because I just want to shake my hands in the air and go "It's really good, ok?!"
It's really good, ok?
In terms of subject matter, In the Dream House is simple- it's a reflection on an abusive relationship. Except it isn't actually simple, because what relationship is? And, as Machado points out, it's complicated by the fact they are both women, and by the fact the woman in the Dream House is tiny and white and blonde, and Machado is none of those things. It's also about her life, and what led up to the woman in the Dream House, and what influenced Machado, and reflections from the future. And it is about the queer community, or parts of it, and heteronormative society, and abusive relationships in general. And it's about margins, ephemera, negative space.
I got my copy of In the Dream House from the library. In March of this year, the paperback edition comes out, and I'm definitely going to buy it (I prefer paperbacks).
It's really good, ok?
