A review by underwaterlily
Beyond the Pale Motel by Francesca Lia Block
4.0
Beyond the Pale Motel is the type of story you want to end well. You want Catt, the protagonist, to work through her issues and to find peace. You want someone to tell her she's beautiful and worthwhile. You want her to realize she doesn't need to chase society's narrow view of beauty—an unattainable goal, because of her more voluptuous frame. When Catt finally does realize her body is perfect, her revelation is so simply stated, and with such regret, it moves the reader to ponder how any woman can suffer from body dysmorphic disorder.
Francesca Lia Block, author of Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books and The Rose and The Beast: Fairy Tales Retold, is known for her dreamy prose and for her shimmering version of Los Angeles. Her characters feel like real people; they address myriad real world problems, as they navigate an otherworldly cityscape. In Beyond the Pale Motel, Block uses parts of the body to convey how disconnected and incomplete Catt feels. Catt and her best friend, Bree, cut and style hair at a salon called Head Hunters. Catt works out at a gym called Body Farm, in an attempt to inspire desire in her husband, who ultimately leaves her for another woman. The serial killer stalking the city slices his victims into parts: one woman's legs, another woman's arms. When Catt explores sex with random men, she physically separates from her body. Catt only becomes whole after she pursues the Hollywood Killer to an abandoned motel in the desert, where she realizes there is more to life than the pursuit of perfection. There is friendship. There is love.
And through this epiphany, Catt achieves a kind of peace.
*
Francesca was kind enough to answer my questions about Beyond the Pale Motel, as well as her love of fairy tales and mythology, on my blog!
Francesca Lia Block, author of Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books and The Rose and The Beast: Fairy Tales Retold, is known for her dreamy prose and for her shimmering version of Los Angeles. Her characters feel like real people; they address myriad real world problems, as they navigate an otherworldly cityscape. In Beyond the Pale Motel, Block uses parts of the body to convey how disconnected and incomplete Catt feels. Catt and her best friend, Bree, cut and style hair at a salon called Head Hunters. Catt works out at a gym called Body Farm, in an attempt to inspire desire in her husband, who ultimately leaves her for another woman. The serial killer stalking the city slices his victims into parts: one woman's legs, another woman's arms. When Catt explores sex with random men, she physically separates from her body. Catt only becomes whole after she pursues the Hollywood Killer to an abandoned motel in the desert, where she realizes there is more to life than the pursuit of perfection. There is friendship. There is love.
And through this epiphany, Catt achieves a kind of peace.
*
Francesca was kind enough to answer my questions about Beyond the Pale Motel, as well as her love of fairy tales and mythology, on my blog!