That’s the narrative, more or less, but the story itself it something far more expansive. The ending is, I believe, a happy one-though the word ‘happy’ seems entirely misplaced when talking about Machado’s writing. Stabler’s wife was once kidnapped by aliens, but then it turns out: she wasn’t. Doppelgängers of the two are sabotaging their lives. The ghosts of these women appear in Benson’s bedroom with bells for eyes. The narrative is more or less: officer Benson and officer Stabler investigate murders, most often of women. It’s written in the form of 272 episode descriptions of several seasons of L &O: SVU, which if read all together make for a narrative. The fourth story in the collection is titled, ‘Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order: SVU’. (Narrator voice: she was not prepared.) Graywolf Press | 2017 | 248 pp When I started reading I thought I knew what I’d bought, and why. I wanted to go into it not expecting anything, and all I knew was: Magic, realism, women, queer women-a list that’s more or less my dating profile. This collection came out last week and my feed has been flooded with reviews that I haven’t read. That may not be the version of the story you’re familiar with, but I assure you, it’s the one you need to know. Her Body and Other Parties b y Carmen Maria Machado - Yael van der Wouden
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |