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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A collection of queer stories that grapples with the question of how much of ourselves, and our queerness, we may recognize in history and in family. These stories elaborate queer futures that are unstable, unchosen, and perhaps misguided, but still, somehow, hopeful.
Each short story was a page turner, often for different reasons - but always with a twist. The dark, almost gothic southern prose makes for a characteristic style that fits the stories so well.
These are not feel good stories but even melancholia can be a compelling read.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
The number of times I've read a short story collection and loved or really liked every single story is so rare that I can count it on one hand. Manywhere, a collection of queer southern stories by local Portland writer Morgan Thomas can now be counted in those numbers. Each story is unique, interesting, dynamic, and pulls you straight away into its world and into the landscape, which is both the geographical terrain, but also the physical landscape of the gender-queer body and its various and complicated desires. At a time when rights are being stripped, especially in Southern states, for trans and queer people, this collection feels especially potent, but even if we weren't in this terrifying historic moment, each of these stories would still ring with truth, transcending time.
