suspriea's review against another edition
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
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)
charcoalpencils's review
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.
cutiejoy's review
4.25
Very interesting! I wasn't sure what to expect but short story collections are always some of my favorites. The best one was probably the one about the ant colony. I wish I had an ant colony inside me. I thought the story about the trans woman was somewhat in poor taste, though. Other than that, these stories were charming.
- "There’s a moment when my mind tells me that we’ve blown up, and it takes a few more seconds to realize that we haven’t. I feel like my bones are being chewed upon by a glacier with really dull teeth." (Porn Star)
- "Her face is kind of gray too because she never goes outside; she fears nature like it’s a rapist or murderer, even though it’s so the opposite—nature is what’s getting raped and murdered!" (Bandleader's Girlfriend)
- "If the spasm that afflicts my back and spine at the mention of my old name “Claudia” could make a sound, a single note, it would be unharmonious beyond this dimension. No one would even be able to hear what a wonky note it would be, because the human ear is not advanced enough. It’s one of those things; the sound is made but does anyone hear it? Was it made? I speak but Sister does not hear me. Do I speak?" (Bandleader's Girlfriend)
- "When I hear CT’s voice going up through the clouds and then back down and up again at a dizzying rate, like an airplane showing off, I can’t help but feel that I’m suspended on the edge of a cliff or somewhere similar where the beauty before me comes with the price of danger. A lot of people who know about the view from the tip-top of a bridge or tall building are dead, because they climbed up in order to jump off. But sometimes I wonder if they truly planned on jumping or if the view was just so beautiful that they realized what a wide big net beauty is, and then wanted so badly to be caught by it." (Bandleader's Girlfriend)
- "When space on earth became very limited, it was declared all people had to host another organism on or inside of their bodies. Many people chose something noninvasive, such as barnacles or wig-voles. Some women had breast operations that allowed them to accommodate small aquatic life within implants. But because I was already perfectly breasted (and, admittedly, vain) I sought out a doctor who, for several thousands of dollars, drilled holes into my bones to make room for an ant colony." (Ant Colony)
- "My arms and legs could no longer move—I could only move through the ants. It was like having hundreds of different hands. I could make them go anywhere and do anything inside my body; I’d even started eating with them. Though I didn’t necessarily want to devour my own bone, I had an insatiable hunger, and there was a commanding voice, Eat, Walk, Lift, Chomp. It was my own voice but much deeper, not exactly masculine but echoing and confident, like my home was a large cave and I firmly believed in everything I said. I seemed able to express only one word at a time, but this felt more liberating than restrictive—suddenly every word could be a full representation of myself." (Ant Colony)
- "It is so gross how we are born and so gross how we die." (Teenager)
- "I’m not beautiful, although he told me once that I was. 'Jean,' he said, 'you just aren’t beautiful in a way that people notice. It’s comfortable, the way you’re beautiful. Your face always reminds me of home.' I don’t think home was what any of his friends were looking for. They wanted
excitement. My face does not remind anyone of that." (Magician)