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alexandriaslibrary's reviews
231 reviews
Where You'll Find Me and Other Stories by Ann Beattie
reflective
The sort of collection where every story has been in the New Yorker & is taut, driven, and introspective
Massively impressive & a feel for structure that is sorely missed in contemporary collections
Massively impressive & a feel for structure that is sorely missed in contemporary collections
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver
lighthearted
reflective
It was a great joy to sit with Mary Oliver for so long. I tackled Devotions a few poems at a time and each were so grounded, wise, and appreciative. Her dedication and reflection about nature (from the wind to the animals to the plants) is really profound! Great work to study non autobiographical poetry!
Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
No words! Just the awe of seeing your most inner thoughts reflected back to you.
Scanlon does so much in 350 pages. Her personal tragedies, the history of women institutionalized and “crazy” women artists. Her long-term institutionalization during college at the end of the era of long-term psychiatric care. The performance of “sickness” and how you choose to live
“We felt helpless, and yet this wasn't linked to the growing inequality and social isolation of the 1980s postwelfare state. The aggressive backlash to the gains of feminism and the civil rights movements of the sixties. We needed help and felt shame for asking. We had failed in some sense of an American individualist imperative. We had an obligation to recover. The narrative of progression. This was not only for the medical-pharmaceutical establishment which required our before and after stories, but also for a culture that locates mental illness in the self and not the society. If it doesn't quite work this way, there was no acknowledgment of that. There weren't stories of the ones who don't recover, or get better and worse over and over again.”
Scanlon does so much in 350 pages. Her personal tragedies, the history of women institutionalized and “crazy” women artists. Her long-term institutionalization during college at the end of the era of long-term psychiatric care. The performance of “sickness” and how you choose to live
“We felt helpless, and yet this wasn't linked to the growing inequality and social isolation of the 1980s postwelfare state. The aggressive backlash to the gains of feminism and the civil rights movements of the sixties. We needed help and felt shame for asking. We had failed in some sense of an American individualist imperative. We had an obligation to recover. The narrative of progression. This was not only for the medical-pharmaceutical establishment which required our before and after stories, but also for a culture that locates mental illness in the self and not the society. If it doesn't quite work this way, there was no acknowledgment of that. There weren't stories of the ones who don't recover, or get better and worse over and over again.”
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Willa!!!!!!!!
For lesbian fans of Steinbeck! O Pioneers! follows Alexandra, the oldest girl of a Swedish family in during the pioneer days. Alexandra is a daughter but her brothers lack the pioneer spirit. We follow her throughout her life as her family grows with the land.
You can feel how much Willa gets it....human suffering, the beauty of the land, remaining optimistic in spite of it all because of her love and deep appreciation for humanity. She was also a closeted lesbian and you can sense the beauty she found within women.
For lesbian fans of Steinbeck! O Pioneers! follows Alexandra, the oldest girl of a Swedish family in during the pioneer days. Alexandra is a daughter but her brothers lack the pioneer spirit. We follow her throughout her life as her family grows with the land.
You can feel how much Willa gets it....human suffering, the beauty of the land, remaining optimistic in spite of it all because of her love and deep appreciation for humanity. She was also a closeted lesbian and you can sense the beauty she found within women.
Interpreter of Maladies: Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri
emotional
hopeful
reflective
Exactly what a short story collection should do! Stories that breathe on their own but are all thematically linked. Loved “Sexy”, “This Blessed House” and the titular “Interpreter of Maladies”
All of these stories have raw depictions of Indian/Bengali womanhood. From women who remain unmarried and outcasts, to young women who enter reluctant relationships with men they don’t respect. The emotional arcs of these stories make it clear why it won the Pulitzer!
All of these stories have raw depictions of Indian/Bengali womanhood. From women who remain unmarried and outcasts, to young women who enter reluctant relationships with men they don’t respect. The emotional arcs of these stories make it clear why it won the Pulitzer!
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A new all-time favorite!! I am so grateful for McNallys for republishing this classic, and for Ursula Parrott to document the experiences of a modern woman nearly 100 years ago.
Patricia, 24, finds herself alone after her husband decides their progressive marriage is /too/ much for him. She now must learn what it means to be an Ex-Wife (her and her crew of divorcees muse “An ex-wife is a young woman for whom the eternity promised in the marriage ceremony is reduced to three years or five or eight.”)
So charming, charismatic, and heartbreaking, Patricia is a beacon in the canon of “Sad Girl Lit”.
The ending stirred similar emotions as “My Antonia” did (another all-time fav) and I ended up crying at the end. Brilliant til the end, what a gem
Patricia, 24, finds herself alone after her husband decides their progressive marriage is /too/ much for him. She now must learn what it means to be an Ex-Wife (her and her crew of divorcees muse “An ex-wife is a young woman for whom the eternity promised in the marriage ceremony is reduced to three years or five or eight.”)
So charming, charismatic, and heartbreaking, Patricia is a beacon in the canon of “Sad Girl Lit”.
The ending stirred similar emotions as “My Antonia” did (another all-time fav) and I ended up crying at the end. Brilliant til the end, what a gem
Nightwork by Christine Schutt
dark
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
A solid story collection from the 90s! These stories feel alive, built out, and realized. Schutt isn't following the modern MFA style, instead these stories pan in and out and around the world of women living difficult lives.
These stories are not necessarily linear or easy. They are mostly 5-10 pages, and I found myself rereading immediately after finishing. Great if you like the gritty, experimental fiction of the 90s.
These stories are not necessarily linear or easy. They are mostly 5-10 pages, and I found myself rereading immediately after finishing. Great if you like the gritty, experimental fiction of the 90s.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
funny
reflective
for the girlies who feel a spiritual connection to 7-11 or have ever had a superiority complex while working retail
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I love when major publishers take a chance on experimental literature! Headshot is a character study of 8 teenage girl boxers at their national competition in Reno, Nevada. Each chapter is framed as a bout between the girls and is an intense study of what has driven them to this level and how are they different than the girl on the other side of their gloves.
This book will probably not be for everyone, there is no traditional plot, no dialogue, no real physical interaction of the characters outside of sparse boxing lingo (the author is not a boxer and as someone who grew up watching boxing you could feel that). I think by the end of the 7 matches, I was a little tired and mainly motivated to finish out of curiosity for who won. I also think that it was a little difficult to keep track of all 8 boxers, except for the fact that each girl basically got two main personality traits that are repeated on every page (Artemis has sisters, Andi watched a boy drown as a lifeguard, Rachel wears a weird hat).
I really like Bullwinkel's voice and am excited for her future work.
This book will probably not be for everyone, there is no traditional plot, no dialogue, no real physical interaction of the characters outside of sparse boxing lingo (the author is not a boxer and as someone who grew up watching boxing you could feel that). I think by the end of the 7 matches, I was a little tired and mainly motivated to finish out of curiosity for who won. I also think that it was a little difficult to keep track of all 8 boxers, except for the fact that each girl basically got two main personality traits that are repeated on every page (Artemis has sisters, Andi watched a boy drown as a lifeguard, Rachel wears a weird hat).
I really like Bullwinkel's voice and am excited for her future work.
Rent Boy by Gary Indiana
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Needed a five-star read in my life and Rent Boy & McNallys pulled through!
A recently reprinted, gritty novella from the 90s about male sex work, nightlife in New York City, and grandiose musings of sex, the body, work, connection.
Danny is a gay sex worker in his 20s who works as a waiter at a hip bar frequented by the art scene elite, hangs around with his fellow rent boys, and winds up in a scam with his achingly beautiful friend Chip.
"What are they smiling at? The fact that they know there will always be a museum of perfect boy bodies to worship at, and any item can be had for less than two hundred dollars an hour."
A recently reprinted, gritty novella from the 90s about male sex work, nightlife in New York City, and grandiose musings of sex, the body, work, connection.
Danny is a gay sex worker in his 20s who works as a waiter at a hip bar frequented by the art scene elite, hangs around with his fellow rent boys, and winds up in a scam with his achingly beautiful friend Chip.
"What are they smiling at? The fact that they know there will always be a museum of perfect boy bodies to worship at, and any item can be had for less than two hundred dollars an hour."