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(I didn't do a Small Press Spotlight for September so I'll do two in October)
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado is a short-story collection published by Graywolf Press.
I've wanted to read this book for ages- possibly since it first came out and I first saw the title- but only got around to it now. I'd read "The Husband Stitch" before (thanks, ling!), but everything else was new to me.
Machado's writing is so atmospheric and evocative, and it's very absorbing. I don't think any of the protagonists were named in this collection ("Especially Heinous" aside) which was an interesting choice that I really liked. I was mildly disappointed there wasn't a story actually titled "Her Body and Other Parties," but the collection title really worked with the themes of the stories within- the concept of bodies and women's bodies and being a woman having a body.
"Especially Heinous" was really well done- SVU where they are literally haunted by the ghosts of girls who were not saved. The episode summaries and seasonal arcs were fantastic and haunting. "The Resident" was also deliciously creepy and upsetting. "Inventory" and "Mothers" were tragic and hopeful. I think "The Husband Stitch" is probably my favorite of the stories in the collection, with "Difficult at Parties" being my least favorite, but the biggest strength of the book is how the stories all fit together so well, I think.
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado is a short-story collection published by Graywolf Press.
I've wanted to read this book for ages- possibly since it first came out and I first saw the title- but only got around to it now. I'd read "The Husband Stitch" before (thanks, ling!), but everything else was new to me.
Machado's writing is so atmospheric and evocative, and it's very absorbing. I don't think any of the protagonists were named in this collection ("Especially Heinous" aside) which was an interesting choice that I really liked. I was mildly disappointed there wasn't a story actually titled "Her Body and Other Parties," but the collection title really worked with the themes of the stories within- the concept of bodies and women's bodies and being a woman having a body.
"Especially Heinous" was really well done- SVU where they are literally haunted by the ghosts of girls who were not saved. The episode summaries and seasonal arcs were fantastic and haunting. "The Resident" was also deliciously creepy and upsetting. "Inventory" and "Mothers" were tragic and hopeful. I think "The Husband Stitch" is probably my favorite of the stories in the collection, with "Difficult at Parties" being my least favorite, but the biggest strength of the book is how the stories all fit together so well, I think.
