Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Body Work

I didn’t know what I expect when I pick up this book but it sure was different from my imagination. Sometimes, these are happy accidents, and this book was one of them.

It was a book on how to write about yourself, but to simplify it that way is diminishing its powerful message. In some way, the book was part memoir, as the author brought her own personal narrative into it to illustrate how she had woven the intricacies of her experience in the process of her craft.

Melissa Febos wrote with a tenacity and intensity that was overwhelming at first, when she dived into her sexual encounters and erotic desires and how one can write about sex. But once I settled into her fervent honesty, she had shown me the underlying purpose of the things she included, the wisdom of someone who had written as a mean to survive. In that I see myself, not at that level but starting to climb those first steps into writing something that makes sense of it all. Whether publication was the goal or not.

If I was familiar with her works prior to reading this, I might have had a less discombobulated start, but I actually have read an essay of her in the book “What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About” before, and hadn’t realized that until I was in the middle of reading Body Work. The fact that I recognized her writing from a collection I read years ago (and didn’t really remember it that well) really showed how much of an impression her writing had made. Will be looking forward to read her other works, even if the honesty promised by those books scares me.

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savvylit's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I don't know about you, but I find forthright, intimate discussions about the craft of writing to be fascinating. Body Work is just that -- a beautifully written book about the writing process. Technically this was written for writers but it would be just as interesting to anyone who loves to read. (Especially if you're a fan of memoirs).

In Body Work, Febos celebrates the immense power of personal narratives. She explores the ways in which memoir can be healing for the author: the ability to freely express trauma can help to alleviate some of the burden of said trauma. She also delves into the ways that personal narratives can help to heal readers. To read a personal narrative and see your own experience reflected back at you is to feel a lot less alone in the world.

Beyond those healing aspects of memoir, Febos also recounts quite a lot of her writing process for her three prior books. One section focuses on the ways that she included real people in her work and how they reacted. Another section is ostensibly about writing good sex scenes but is also about writers honing their ability to express moments the way happen in reality.

All in all, this is an engaging read and a delightful insight into the mind of a very talented author. Highly recommend!

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