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A review by caseylikekc
Hysteria by Jessica Gross
3.0
Initially struck by the cover art/design, I started reading Hysteria in a bookshop and brought it straight to check-out upon reaching page 2. As I read, I kept finding that Gross' prose shines brightest when the unnamed protagonist shifts her attention (and comfort mechanisms) onto ordinary objects: a radiator, a napkin, a biography of Freud, the roof of her own mouth, the rows of clothes in her father's closet, even an ass or two among many myriad parts of her own body and others'. It's those such moments (that often bring on such strong waves of second-hand embarrassment that you wish the book would put itself back on the shelf for a minute) that engrossed me the most, rather than most of the internal or external dialogue, which I often felt to be dry, or at least disjointed from how interesting and truly raw some of Gross' descriptions are.
This initially surprised me about Hysteria but in retrospect I think this was a real strength of the book: we're not given a narrator or a cast that can fully recognize themselves, their desires or actions, let alone each other. Of course the protagonist moves at a practically break-neck pace, often making inexplicable choices that are worthy of a reader's frustration--it's not like her own actions aren't often a mystery to herself. Now having finished Hysteria , this is something I greatly appreciate about Gross' writing.
I did still struggle to maintain interest through the middle chapters of the book (hence the 3 stars), partially on account of feeling disconnected to the protagonist as she moves through the most viscous parts of her spiral before finally confronting Freud. It felt like there were a few missed opportunities to get the reader more immersed in the narrator's increasingly scattered and destructive actions. I think part of it was my own expectation/desire for more stylized writing (especially once Freud finally shows), but who knows!
In other reviews of this book here on GR, a blurb from Courtney Maum on the back cover, as well as in an interview with the LA Review of Books , Gross' debut has been compared to many other narratives of young adult women confronting their needs and skewed relationships with sex, family, etc. (i.e. Fleabag, I May Destroy You, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, among others). The comparisons aren't a mystery by any means, but I would recommend that you veer away from setting up your expectations for the book based on these comparisons alone. Coming in at just 184 pages, Hysteria has to do its work much faster and, frankly, Gross delivers a deeply interesting narrative in her own right.
This initially surprised me about Hysteria but in retrospect I think this was a real strength of the book: we're not given a narrator or a cast that can fully recognize themselves, their desires or actions, let alone each other. Of course the protagonist moves at a practically break-neck pace, often making inexplicable choices that are worthy of a reader's frustration--it's not like her own actions aren't often a mystery to herself. Now having finished Hysteria , this is something I greatly appreciate about Gross' writing.
I did still struggle to maintain interest through the middle chapters of the book (hence the 3 stars), partially on account of feeling disconnected to the protagonist as she moves through the most viscous parts of her spiral before finally confronting Freud. It felt like there were a few missed opportunities to get the reader more immersed in the narrator's increasingly scattered and destructive actions. I think part of it was my own expectation/desire for more stylized writing (especially once Freud finally shows), but who knows!
In other reviews of this book here on GR, a blurb from Courtney Maum on the back cover, as well as in an interview with the LA Review of Books , Gross' debut has been compared to many other narratives of young adult women confronting their needs and skewed relationships with sex, family, etc. (i.e. Fleabag, I May Destroy You, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, among others). The comparisons aren't a mystery by any means, but I would recommend that you veer away from setting up your expectations for the book based on these comparisons alone. Coming in at just 184 pages, Hysteria has to do its work much faster and, frankly, Gross delivers a deeply interesting narrative in her own right.