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Brilliant sentence by sentence; provocative story by story; and repetitive and one-note as a collection.
Such surreal, weird and wonderful short stories. If you're a fan of Heti, Ball, Kleeman, July, Kang and Schiff then you need to encounter Jen George. I only wish the first story, Guidance / The Party, appeared later in the collection.
I’m no where near smart enough for this... gave up on page 81
Another one from my Dorothy Publishing Project pile (which I purchased, so not a product placement). I had put this one aside but decided to finish it during the 24in48 readathon.Suffice to say, this was not really the book for me. Uncomfortable sexuality combined with the surreal. I can see how that would appeal to some readers. The four stories in the collection are made up of much shorter snippets and blurbs that make for a disjointed reading experience, which seems to be the point.
One of the weirdest books I've read this year. Its five stories feel like their own perverse little worlds. Like Ben Marcus if he was re-writing Georges Bataille. The dialogue is bonkers, frequently jarring in its sexual torque. Not sure who Jen George is, but she'll be legendary if she keeps making books (though I could also picture her as a filmmaker or conceptual artist).
Jen George's characters are mired in depravity and dissolution disguised as desire. Impossible situations, gallows humor and fondness for catalogs bring Stanley Crawford's Log of the S.S. Mrs. Unguentine to mind. I kept seeing the scenes as they might appear in a painting by John Terahteeff where beautiful figures languish as violence lurks.
In these evil and weird times I am sometimes at a loss to know what sort of art / film / literature can even really talk back and comment upon the very weird and the so evil. Some of the stories here show a way forward with it. Surreal in places, always disorienting, frequently crass in ways that are not mere shock but rather communicate the deeper emptiness of America Now. Often really funny, too.Jen George is a talent with something to say.
first two stories were too amazing that the rest can't keep up
definitely weird! I guess overall these stories could be interpreted as a commentary on the bizarre nature of being a woman in the modern world but some of it was also just weird! it did make me laugh though, and I can honestly say that I've never read anything like it!
I would compare Jen George's stories to remembering a dream, or being inside a surrealist painting. Her characters feel to me like ordinary people who, when dropped into bizarre situations, adapt accordingly, just carrying on as if everything's normal. The result is a disconcerting yet beguiling blend of the mundane and the ludicrous.Guidance / The Party Q: What takes the place of looks?A: Invisibility, irrelevance, debt, and unsuccessful stabs at saving to buy real estate. A 33-year-old woman...
This book grabbed me right away with its strange little hands and did not let go. The combinations of darkness and light, high-brow art stuff and scatology, horror and humor were just the right fit for me. Reminded me of Miranda July and David Lynch and Tim Heidecker/Eric Wareheim.
Unusual, alien of a book. I think I liked it
Strange with a sense of familiarity, sometimes even made me lol. The last story is my least favorite and loses me at points but overall this was an amazing time.
This is ok. I don't know, I think we go into every piece of contemporary fiction expecting each book to be a) a modern classic and b) completely different to anything we've ever read before. This book in particular grates because it's lauded for being so different to everything else that's out there when you can't turn round at the minute without hitting a book that has the same style and themes. It’s been done before. It reads like a McSweeney's piece that drags on for too long. Although I'm no...
Bravo to Jen George who writes with irreverent freedom and does what she wants! At times, these stories reminded me of Jane Bowles and Lucinella by Lore Segal, but mostly George writes like herself, exploring the bizarre, the erotic, the tragic--the random human mess. These stories aren't for everyone, and there are gratuitous moments, and sometimes a feeling of being stuck in a beautiful, deadly lagoon, but I found this book inspiring, especially the first story, and can't wait to read more fro...
i suppose the barthelme comparisons are apt, but with insight focused on the nastiness of patriarchy and a much less evasive handling of sex.
I admire the author's boldness. There is a lack of restraint in the freewheeling bizarro-ideas. The stories function without character development, plot twists, or reflection. They are fast-paced, bare-bones cobbled-together surrealist evocations of modern day discontent, obsession and sexual fantasy. Shock and awe, surprise and delight, but plainly stated, divested of emotion, coupled with bland imagery and no sense of setting. Reads more like a dream diary, which is fine, but I hoped for more
It was interesting. Very weirdly written. Felt like a fever dream. Honest, vulgar and dark. Good themes. Probably not great for the light hearted or sensitive souls.
4.5 stars Each story felt like being inside someone else’s dream, but I could feel the hints of reality that the author was analyzing, commenting on, being cynical/sarcastic/humorous about, and I think that was the best part.
An awkward familiarity, a dismally accurate assessment of contemporary moments, surrealized into the generality and iconic signs of a dream. There's a kind of oneiric illogic to the actual synopsis at times as well, but George integrates these moments into total naturalness. I get a bit of that nagging 'Is this how my era will be remembered?' sensation, to which the answers may be 'Yes' and 'It is deserved'. As a debut work, this is an extremely impressive one. (It would be impressive as a work
