HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES by CARMEN MARIA MACHADO (2017)

I am probably just a cynic, but I feel that some books are beloved by critics just because they treat with subjects that are currently at the forefront politically, not because they are actually superior. I think that might be the case with this book of short stories. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and was listed on many Best of 2017 book lists, yet I found it to be dogmatic and whiny on the whole, with the longest of the stories (60 pages) becoming boring after the first 20 pages.

The focus of all these stories is lesbian feminism, hot topics in today's culture. Machado's writing is often arresting, but she is a member of the MFA school of over-writing and being clever for cleverness' sake. (Iowa Writers Workshop, to be exact.) I just wonder if she would have been so well received had she chosen to write about people in general, and not this sub-group.

Running through all the stories are elements of the fantastical, with frequent reference to folk tales and urban legends, reminiscent of the writings of Angela Carter. But while Carter's works celebrate womanhood, these seem to me to be tinged with a thread of victimhood and complaint. In three of the eight stories, women experience mental problems, always unpleasant for me to read. In another, a woman lists her sexual experiences, pointlessly as far as I was concerned. The long centerpiece story capsules twelve seasons of a fictional Law and Order, episode by episode. Parts of that were actually funny, particularly for someone (that would be me) who has watched the program, but the premise got old pretty fast. Most of the stories included graphic descriptions of sexual acts, but none were in the least erotic.

Perhaps this collection left me disappointed because I am not enough of a feminist. Or because I am not a lesbian. Or because I am too old and don't consider one's sexuality to be the centerpiece of existence. Whatever.

I would not recommend this book to most people, although I will grant that it is competently written.