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A review by gadicohen93
Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller
5.0
I read the first story of this book in a Mission bookstore. Shoulda bought it right then and there, but decided instead to wait until almost a month later, when I ordered it on Amazon, got it in the mail four days later, and turned the last page one day after that. This is the kind of book whose glaringly obvious spelling and grammar mistakes (e.g., its) only contribute to its ability to sort of re-set your brain's reading style and wash your mind with a spray of cold water.
I appreciated -- in fact, felt inspired by -- Cookie's lavishly dégagé attitude toward life. Hers is the kind of nonchalant style of describing ridiculous events that lesser writers, like myself, try to emulate but fail to even touch. She treats rape in several points in the book as a kind of fact of life -- something awful, yes, but also as something she can exploit to turn the tables on her rapists and abuse them in the best way she possibly could: through her writing, with sharp, eviscerating humor. The story of her road trip abduction in the South was the best one, and the funniest one, in my opinion. Overall, Cookie was empowered, drunk with empowerment even. It's upsetting how young she died.
I wish the book was longer, and meatier. It went by too quickly, and I wish she'd dug deeper into some philosophical theme. I want to read a novel by her.
I appreciated -- in fact, felt inspired by -- Cookie's lavishly dégagé attitude toward life. Hers is the kind of nonchalant style of describing ridiculous events that lesser writers, like myself, try to emulate but fail to even touch. She treats rape in several points in the book as a kind of fact of life -- something awful, yes, but also as something she can exploit to turn the tables on her rapists and abuse them in the best way she possibly could: through her writing, with sharp, eviscerating humor. The story of her road trip abduction in the South was the best one, and the funniest one, in my opinion. Overall, Cookie was empowered, drunk with empowerment even. It's upsetting how young she died.
I wish the book was longer, and meatier. It went by too quickly, and I wish she'd dug deeper into some philosophical theme. I want to read a novel by her.