Carmen Maria Machado

Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction “[These stories] vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange.”—Roxane Gay “In these formally brilliant and emotionally charged tales, Machado gives literal shape to women’s memories and hunger and desire. I couldn’t put it down.”—Karen Russell In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naïvely assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes. Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.

Stories

Her Body and Other Parties

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FICTION PRIZE 2017SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2018'Brilliantly inventive and blazingly smart' Garth Greenwell'Impossible, imperfect, unforgettable' Roxane Gay'A wild thing ... covered in sequins and scales, blazing with the influence of fabulists from Angela Carter to Kelly Link and Helen Oyeyemi' New York TimesIn her provocative debut, Carmen Maria Machado demolishes the borders between magical realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism.A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the mysterious green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague spreads across the earth. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery about a store's dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted house guest. A dark, shimmering slice into womanhood, Her Body and Other Parties is wicked and exquisite.

nikki

"A wife", he says, "should have no secrets from her husband."

"The ribbon is not a secret; it's just mine."

“Why do you want to hide it from me?”

“I'm not hiding it. It just isn't yours.”

Macy HB

I do not even struggle to speak; the spark of words dies so deep in my chest there is not even space to mount them on an exhale.

I understood that knowledge was a dwarfing, obliterating, all- consuming thing, and to have it was to both be grateful and suffer greatly. I was a creature so small, trapped in some crevice of an indifferent universe.

The woman I did and did not recognize called herself by a name that I immediately forgot. I do not mean that I wasn't paying attention; rather, she said her name and as my mind closed around it, it slipped away like mercury from probing fingers.

I was glad I couldn't read her mind. I knew her thoughts would break my heart.

"I love you," I say. It's the first time I've said it, and it tastes strange in my mouth-real but not ready, like a too-hard pear.

feel like my feet are trapdoors that have sprung open, and my insides are hurtling out of my body.

When she sits up again, the ceiling fan frames her head like a glowing halo, like she's a Madonna in a medieval painting.

Benson and the DA are both late to work, and smell like each other.

They clean the windows. They order pizza and talk about first loves.

The girls-with-bells-for-eyes try to make her soup, but their hands pass through the cupboard handles.

YOu never live With a woman, you live inside of her, I overneard my father say to my brother once, and it was, indeed, as if, when peering into the mirror, you were blinking out through her thickly fringed eyes.

I realize the world will continue to turn, even with no people on it. Maybe it will go a little faster.

He touched my face when we fucked and said I was beautiful, and I jerked my head a little to dislodge his fingers.

I felt good, like an adult who has sex sometimes, and a life.

It is like him to not understand what there is to be afraid of in this world, but I am still furious.

He is so beautiful I have to remind myself to breathe.

I have no siblings, but I know that eldest girls sweeten their brothers and are protected by them from the dangers of the world--an arrangement that buoys my heart.

what plays on the insides of my eyelids asI fall asleep.

As a grown woman, I would have said to my father that there are true things in this world observed only by a single set of eyes. As a girl, I consented to his account of the story, and laughed when he scooped me from the chair to kiss me and send me on my way.

They had been there. I had seen them with my own eyes. But beneath the sunbeam of my father's logic, I felt my doubt unfurl.

ME: as a child, high-pitched, forgettable; as a woman, the same.

Hannah Jumer

As they put me to sleep, my mouth fills with the dust of the moon.

arwen

short stories by carmen maria machado are not enough i need a whole novel

Lindy

"Do you ever worry about writing the madwoman-in-the-attic story?
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
"You know. That old trope. Writing a story where the female protagonist is utterly batty.
 It's sort of tiresome and regressive and, well, done"-- here she gesticulated so forcefully that a few drops of red [wine] spattered the tablecloth-- "don't you think? And the mad lesbian, isn't that a stereotype as well?["] --p. 203, "The Resident" 

I dunno. Many of the stylistic choices came across as contrived rather than clever; I would probably have liked them a lot more had I read this as a teenager. The author really loves her lists. Someone more well-versed in horror tropes and/or Law & Order: SVU might get more out of these stories than I did. 

My favorite story in the collection was "Eight Bites."

river

i have mixed feelings because while i really liked some stories, some of them were too vague or dragged too much imo .. but i think this book is so amazingly written and forces you to think and come up with your own interpretations, which is something i really loved about it

read for class. really enjoyed inventory. 

Liz Harris

I read this for a book club (@dinnerpartybooks on ig) and I liked it! There were a few stories I loved more than the others, but for the most part, it pretty much evened out to a book I enjoyed. It’s a stunning debut from CMM, so now I’m looking even more forward to read “In the Dream House”. :)

andrea valentina 

Los cuentos: magníficos. Pero, la narración dejó mucho que desear.

"What magical thing could you want so badly they take you away from the known world for wanting it?"
--
So, I am just sitting here, staring at the dimly lit corner of the room, with one thought echoing in my head. "What the fuck did I just read?"

Machado has built a fantasy world mixed with deeply buried memories and stark reality, creating a collection of strange, dark, sexually-charged short stories. The stories address a wide range of issues from body ownership, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, body image, and so much more, which made it a very hard-hitting and difficult book to read.

I have to say, my reaction to the stories were a mix of curiosity, sadness, emotional connection, and at times, utter confusion. Some were great. And some were a bit of a miss. Just a few words about the stories I enjoyed:

 The Husband Stitch: A dark tale made darker. A story of sacrifice, manipulation, and the relentless burden of entitled expectation.
Real Women Have Bodies: This was just felt so powerful and so sad to me. It is a difficult one to articulate for me, but mostly it is this: what society values in women (their bodies), how women are held to a terrible standard, and the more they strive to achieve it, the less they are seen, the more they sacrifice of themselves. How women feel the need to be sewn into pretty dresses to be worn by the young girls, to feel seen and to feel like they exist.
The Resident: I think I love this one because it reminded me a lot of The Haunting of Hill House, which I read last year and LOVED. The whole vibe of this story is so... eerie, and sinister, and internal. Things I like.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Mothers (so abstract and confusing) and Especially Heinous> (way, way too long than it should have been).
So, there you have it. 3.5/5

laetitia

azliana aziz

fabulously fun, thought provoking, multi-genre book with a fascinating, incendiary voice. 

definitely one of the highlight of 2017

Gothic fairytales for the modern age. There’s a queer & feminist thread through each of the stories. I’d read & loved The Husband Stitch several times previously but hoped for the other stories to match up to its brilliance. I enjoyed them, but none quite reached that lofty bar. 

Michelle C

Gothic fairytales for the modern age. There’s a queer & feminist thread through each of the stories. I’d read & loved The Husband Stitch several times previously but hoped for the other stories to match up to its brilliance. I enjoyed them, but none quite reached that lofty bar. 

Read time: 4h 50m 

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FICTION PRIZE 2017'Brilliantly inventive and blazingly smart' Garth Greenwell'Impossible, imperfect, unforgettable' Roxane Gay'A wild thing ... covered in sequins and scales, blazing with the influence of fabulists from Angela Carter to Kelly Link and Helen Oyeyemi' New York Times In her provocative debut, Carmen Maria Machado demolishes the borders between magical realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. Startling narratives map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited on their bodies, both in myth and in practice.A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the mysterious green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague spreads across the earth. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery about a store's dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted house guest. Bodies become inconsequential, humans become monstrous, and anger becomes erotic. A dark, shimmering slice into womanhood, Her Body and Other Parties is wicked and exquisite.

CMM, I love you. A master at atmospheric setting, eeriness and feminine horror. I think this book deserves all the hype and more. Some stories I liked more than others, but overall a brilliant collection and stunning writing. All the themes of patriarchy, mother-daughter relationships, guilt and the kind of love that is so desperate it grows into something unrecognisable. I cannot talk about this enough. 

Xiang

Caramel Constellations

I loved in the Dream House and I would consider it a favorite. I wish I could say the same for this.

Courtney

The cover of this book is what truly drew me towards it. I got this for free at a queer pop-up library in New York, which was just exciting in itself!

I have yet to read any of Carmen Maria Machado's books - until now. This was the perfect way to introduce myself to her beautifully written stories. I would love to revisit this book in the future when I'm a little older so I can better understand some of the stories. 

Her metaphors are absolutely insane - in the best way possible. Her prose pulls you in deep, even if you have to reread to fully understand the metaphors. Her Body and Other Parties is wild and weird, a great collection of short stories that I think everyone should take the time to read. 

Someone pointed me to this article, which can help you understand how you're feeling.

jess larry

Jaycee

Kelly Wynne

"...the stories in HBAOP fall closer to oneself than you’d imagine, registering as bedtimes stories you’d like to read again and again rather than words that will haunt you for life. The beautiful wording and honesty of adult life found in the pages are poetic in every line, and the collection can be covered by all genres, from science fiction to dark comedy."

Read more here: http://www.justcutthebullshit.com/hom...

Catherine Coronado

I am not an intellectual I didn't want to think
Also there's so much sex in this book and way too much of it involves penises

i have literally never read a book as good as this one and i don’t think i ever will again

Clara Gauthier

Lexy 

Karis Ryu

sometime during sophomore or junior year of college, i happened across the eight bites story in an american short stories anthology that i randomly picked off a shelf at the brown bookstore and just pored over it while i sat in that corner couch by the glass window that looks out into thayer street. now i have read the entire collection that the story is actually from and wow, the craft the art the layers the ambiguity the clarity.

also as i read this i was mentally preparing myself because of how affected i had been by eight bites but THE RESIDENT that one took me somewhere else. i am spookity spooked. i'm attacked. i'm intrigued. i'm obsessed. i am coming back.

makenna!!! 

the husband stitch : ★★★★☆
inventory : ★★☆☆☆
mothers : ★★★☆☆
especially heinous : ★★★☆☆
real woman have bodies : ★☆☆☆☆
eight bites : ★★☆☆☆
the resident : ★★☆☆☆
difficult at parties : ★★★★☆

heleen de boever

Hard to rate a collection of short stories in one overarching star score -- most of these were hovering around a 3,5/5, but happy to round that up for the beautiful body-orientedness of this whole collection, both in its content and imagery and in the physicality of the language on display.

short stories never have the biggest impact on me but damn these are good 

Her Body and Other Parties Stories

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