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A review by carrienation76
We Had No Rules by Corinne Manning
4.0
This is a stellar collection of queer short stories. Certainly, there's a central theme around rules, speaking to respectability, self-regulated oppression, yadda yadda. All of that is great and the critique is necessary. But there are two other threads that resonated with me:
First, several stories differentiated the act of "being out" from being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, each asking: what does it mean to be on the periphery of "your" community, to be reluctant to join or to feel omitted from it?
Second, several stories looked at the moments beyond the "classic" LGBTQIA coming out narratives. In "The Appropriate Weight," we see a man at the funeral of his ex-wife, who he divorced years prior as an act of coming out. In "Gay Tale," we meet a woman exploring her sexuality while actively avoiding every cliched queer narrative, like sleeping with the first queer person who expresses interest. All of these stories move beyond the expected, knowing full well that our subconscious can fill in those mainstreamed details without prompting.
Full disclosure: There were a few points in the early stories where I thought, "Cheezus, this writer is pReTeNtIoUs, omg." But by the end, I knew I was wrong - Manning's talent is beyond reproach.
First, several stories differentiated the act of "being out" from being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, each asking: what does it mean to be on the periphery of "your" community, to be reluctant to join or to feel omitted from it?
Second, several stories looked at the moments beyond the "classic" LGBTQIA coming out narratives. In "The Appropriate Weight," we see a man at the funeral of his ex-wife, who he divorced years prior as an act of coming out. In "Gay Tale," we meet a woman exploring her sexuality while actively avoiding every cliched queer narrative, like sleeping with the first queer person who expresses interest. All of these stories move beyond the expected, knowing full well that our subconscious can fill in those mainstreamed details without prompting.
Full disclosure: There were a few points in the early stories where I thought, "Cheezus, this writer is pReTeNtIoUs, omg." But by the end, I knew I was wrong - Manning's talent is beyond reproach.