Reviews

Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill

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rekams's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

While Gaitskill is often lauded as a feminist writer before her time, most, if not all of these stories seem to have been written for the male gaze, dating them in an unpleasant way that's, in my view, unconnected from the unpleasantness of the subject matter itself, and might not be entirely intentional on the author. I do understand that works of literature must be contextualised against the culture from which they emerged, so I did not take this into account when rating this book, but nonetheless I wanted to note this, as it's not something I've seen in reviews of this book at all, despite the laundry lists of various trigger warnings and caveats many of them highlight.

So, if not the above, then why the 2.5 stars? Well, to me, the main issue was that the stories were simply too similar, and also not very good. There are two in particular, Something Nice and Trying to Be, that focus on the relationship between a young, struggling-writer-turned-prostitute in New York and an older, professional man that frequents said prostitute. I put the book down for the night partway through the latter, and when I picked it up the next morning, I really had to struggle to remember, that the first story ended, and that this was now, supposedly, a different story. Although the plots for the rest of the stories weren't as repetitive as these two, the characters were, to the point where I frequently had to flip back a page or two to double check what the self insert female character was now called so that I could make sense of a more confusing passage here and there.

The only reason why I haven't rated the collection lower is the last story, Heaven, which I found quite solemn, but also hopeful. It shows that Gaitskill has the talent and skills to write a tight, interesting, and meaningful short story, if only she chooses to. Of course, I suspect that stories like this one wouldn't have sold the same way as a woman writing about BDSM did in the late 1980s, but I do find it a shame, as while shock value and novelty of the latter has worn off over the years, it's the stories like Heaven that aged well in my opinion.