Chelsea Hodson

"I had a real romance with this book." —Miranda July A highly anticipated collection, from the writer Maggie Nelson has called, “bracingly good...refreshing and welcome,” that explores the myriad ways in which desire and commodification intersect. From graffiti gangs and Grand Theft Auto to sugar daddies, Schopenhauer, and a deadly game of Russian roulette, in these essays, Chelsea Hodson probes her own desires to examine where the physical and the proprietary collide. She asks what our privacy, our intimacy, and our own bodies are worth in the increasingly digital world of liking, linking, and sharing. Starting with Hodson’s own work experience, which ranges from the mundane to the bizarre—including modeling and working on a NASA Mars mission— Hodson expands outward, looking at the ways in which the human will submits, whether in the marketplace or in a relationship. Both tender and jarring, this collection is relevant to anyone who’s ever searched for what the self is worth. Hodson’s accumulation within each piece is purposeful, and her prose vivid, clear, and sometimes even shocking, as she explores the wonderful and strange forms of desire. Tonight I'm Someone Else is a fresh, poetic debut from an exciting emerging voice, in which Hodson asks, “How much can a body endure?” And the resounding answer: "Almost everything."

Essays

Tonight I'm Someone Else

Literary Nonfiction. PITY THE ANIMAL, an essay by Chelsea Hodson, explores the concept of human submission and commodification by way of window displays, wild animals, performance art, and sugar daddy dating websites. "How much can a body endure? Almost everything."

Pity the Animal

Jerald Walker

Dawn Davies

Jess Stoner

Catherine Carberry

Adam Ortman

Courtney Preiss

Alexandra Tanner

Jess Williard

Dawna Kemper

The Austin Review. Built by Literati. True Things. And Lies. The Austin Review is an independent, nonprofit literary journal featuring contemporary fiction and creative, flash nonfiction. This fourth issue of The Austin Review features ten works.

The Austin Review

Tao Lin

Blake Butler

Sarah Manguso

Scott McClanahan

Kathryn Scanlan

David Nutt

Annie DeWitt

Christine Schutt

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Sam Pink

Yuka Igarashi

Mark Leidner

Raegan Bird

Kristen Iskandrian

Nicolette Polek

Precious Okoyomon

Patty Yumi Cottrell

Mallory Whitten

Ann Beattie

This anthology collects original writing and art by novelists, poets, and academics about their pets, including a killer chihuahua, a catatonic toy poodle, a contraband cat, a backyard full of endangered desert tortoises, five forgotten parakeets, and a skinny ex-racehorse named Joe. From legends like Ann Beattie and Christine Schutt to cult figures like Scott McClanahan and Tao Lin, this anthology collects writing from some of today's best literary talent. Edited by Jordan Castro with contributions by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Ann Beattie, Raegan Bird, Blake Butler, Ryan C. K. Choi, Michael W. Clune, Patty Yumi Cottrell, Annie DeWitt, Chelsea Hodson, Yuka Igarashi, Kristen Iskandrian, Mark Leidner, Tao Lin, Scott McClanahan, Sarah Manguso, David Nutt, Precious Okoyomon, Sam Pink, Nicolette Polek, Kathryn Scanlan, Christine Schutt, and Mallory Whitten.

Pets

Chelsea Hodson

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