jonwesleyhuff's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Nutting's work is always intriguing. Sometimes sort of gross. Often very funny. I enjoyed this short story collection as it gives her a chance to play with concepts that wouldn't have sustained a longer work (or, frankly, some people could probably not have handled in a long form, including myself!)
suspriea's review
dark
mysterious
3.0
Some tales ring hollow, while others had me saying, "Holy fuck." Some are delicate to grasp, some are difficult to swallow. It's a good one to enjoy all at once because it combines laughter and fear.
mercerhanau's review against another edition
3.0
Reasonably entertaining with some very unique imagery and a refreshing mix of humorous/dark/gross from female perspectives (of a variety of ages but all most likely straight). I think some of the scenarios were not my cup of tea, but the stories are short and give just taste of each one. The audiobook reader gave characters suitable voices, but a “ditsy” voice came up more than I tend to like in my narrators’ personalities.
Found the book at Powell’s but decided to listen to it from Libby instead. Right call for my personal book collection, but still glad I read it once.
Favorite stories: Ant Colony, Corpse Smoker, Cannibal Lover, Gardner (gnomes), Magician (bird + amputee)
Found the book at Powell’s but decided to listen to it from Libby instead. Right call for my personal book collection, but still glad I read it once.
Favorite stories: Ant Colony, Corpse Smoker, Cannibal Lover, Gardner (gnomes), Magician (bird + amputee)
andjeo's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
charcoalpencils's review against another edition
4.0
I loved a lot of these stories! I found She-man ill researched and disrespectful to trans women and that was a huge disappointment from enjoying these funny and bizarre stories. Ant Colony was my favorite story I think.
colin_cox's review against another edition
5.0
The horror and comedy genres are not as unusual of bedfellows as one might think. The slasher film genre is, at its best, a sublime medley of horror and comedy. The aesthetic space that horror and comedy create is where Alissa Nutting's short story collection Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls situates itself. For example, in the introduction, Nutting writes, "Humor and horror are both vehicles for examining the terror of loneliness, the absurdity of it...Humor lets us approach the spaces of terror in everyday life where order is not possible" (xii).
This passage operates as a thesis statement of sorts, but it is more applicable to some stories and less so to others. For example, Nutting confronts the humor and horror inherent to orderless spaces in stories such as "Model's Assistant" and "Deliverywoman," two stories about encounters with a terrifying, yet comedically absurd, other. Furthermore, these two stories examine the role proximity plays in our understanding of the other. On the one hand, "Model's Assistant" is a story about distance and elusiveness. Conversely, "Deliverywoman" explores and unpacks overexposure and hyper-proximity.
I cannot shower this collection with enough praise. I use one of Nutting's stories in an intro literature course I teach, and I would certainly recommend her work to a casual reader or anyone interested in updating a syllabus.
This passage operates as a thesis statement of sorts, but it is more applicable to some stories and less so to others. For example, Nutting confronts the humor and horror inherent to orderless spaces in stories such as "Model's Assistant" and "Deliverywoman," two stories about encounters with a terrifying, yet comedically absurd, other. Furthermore, these two stories examine the role proximity plays in our understanding of the other. On the one hand, "Model's Assistant" is a story about distance and elusiveness. Conversely, "Deliverywoman" explores and unpacks overexposure and hyper-proximity.
I cannot shower this collection with enough praise. I use one of Nutting's stories in an intro literature course I teach, and I would certainly recommend her work to a casual reader or anyone interested in updating a syllabus.