Name: Nightbitch
ISBN: 9780385546812

Rachel Yoder

In this blazingly smart and voracious debut, an artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced she's turning into a dog.

One day, the mother was a mother, but then one night, she was quite suddenly something else...

An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler's demands, only to discover a dense patch of hair on the back of her neck. In the mirror, her canines suddenly look sharper than she remembers. Her husband, who travels for work five days a week, casually dismisses her fears from faraway hotel rooms.

As the mother's symptoms intensify, and her temptation to give in to her new dog impulses peak, she struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity secret. Seeking a cure at the library, she discovers the mysterious academic tome which becomes her bible, 'A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography', and meets a group of mommies involved in a multilevel-marketing scheme who may also be more than what they seem.

An outrageously original novel of ideas about art, power, and womanhood wrapped in a satirical fairy tale, 'Nightbitch' will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. And you should. You should howl as much as you want.

A Novel

Nightbitch

Finn Salter

I want to run and run and run into the cornfields all the way to a stream and then follow it to the ocean-I'm sorry, but I'm not coming back-and I want to have very, very passionate sex with a stranger and I want to sit on a fully decorated cake without underwear and I want to perform a large anonymous act of extreme vandalism and I want to be an artist and a woman and a mother I mean a monster I want to be a monster

Izzy Burgess

You light a fire early in your girlhood. You stoke it and rend it. You protect it at all costs. You don't let it rage into a mountain of light, because that's not becoming of a girl. You keep it secret. You let it burn. You look into the eyes of other girls and see their fires flickering there, offer conspiratorial nods, never speak aloud of a near-unbearable heat, a growing conflagration.

Clara Gauthier

I made you, and I destroy you as well. I am your entire world, and then, also, I am the person you leave behind. I will always be with you. You will never understand me. 

High Fidelity

Yes, indeed, she was a good mother, one of the very best.

A testament to her goodness: that preternatural ability to wake and wake and wake again, night after night, ever since the day the boy was born. Her husband—bless his heart—had never done well with sleep deprivation, yet she, surprisingly, had taken to it as if she hadn’t been a lifelong oversleeper, as if waking at all hours of the night and getting up at 5:30 a.m. was something she was somehow genetically programmed for.

Georgie Wishart

Sunday morning, she rushed from bed to the bathroom, for she felt the impending blood-fall waiting inside her, a deluge that gushed into the toilet when she sat down and provided her great relief, while at the same time, inspiring a wave of ultimate exhaustion, an unwieldy project she must now attend for the next week.

hessensitive

The magic-hour light cast everything in melancholic tones-the gelatinous bits of noodles left on the boy's plastic plate, the vagrant peas beneath his high chair, the clutter of wavward puppets and matchbox cars strewn across counters & bedside the cat-food dish. In such moments, she could almost touch her loneliness, as if it were her second child. 

Only a little way into this novel, Yoder presents a stark contrast between the past and the present; between self without baby and self with baby. I feel the overwhelming sense that our protagonist is aware of this contrast and may even actively choose to separate her existence in this way. Perhaps this is a depiction of how she copes with guilt or frustration, or both, as a mother. Perhaps it is a reflection of the boxes that she feels she has stepped into with who she is at the time, or, perhaps, it is a reflection of the boxes that society as a whole pushes her into. Perhaps it is both.

Lily Cooper

‘Yet now there was nothing. Not a single creative impulse inside her, no matter how she searched’.

james cao

He was her only project. She had done the ultimate job of creation, and now she had nothing left. To keep him alive-that was the only artistic gesture she could muster.

Actually, honestly, she allowed herself only one good wag a day. Other than that, it was off limits. Who knew what else would develop if she gave in to these urges? Who knew what would transpire if she fully embraced her desires to wag, to lovingly lick the fine hairs of her son's head, to trample down a nice flat area in the bedsheets before herself curling there— chin resting on her forearms— and falling asleep?

To what identities do women turn when those available to them fail? How do women expand their identities to encompass all parts of their beings? How might women turn to the natural world to express their deepest longings and most primal fantasies?

Yes, vegetables were very civilized. Dogs wouldn't buy vegetables.

That was the precise word— unbelievable— in the manner of tall tales, urban legends, folk remedies, aliens, mythical creatures rumored to roam the woods, and so her feelings were immediately discounted, even though she knew them to be the truest things in her human experience, a light to show the way.

the unbelievable is not only credible but essential, and has a very real place in the world. I will go so far as to attest that the unbelievable is another way of knowing, an organizing principle that does not run in contradiction to but, rather, in communion with the organizing paradigms of science. The unbelievable, while perhaps not communicating straightforward truths, can communicate deeper truths if a person is willing to be patient, to listen, to contemplate.

I don’t have any answers other than that art seems essential, as essential as mothering. In order to be a self, it is essential. I should perhaps cease being a person without it. Is that enough of a reason, that it matters to me?

She is becoming a better mother because she is becoming a better dog! Dogs don't need to work. Dogs don't care about art. Why had this never occurred to her before?

It was there she had buried the talented and plucky young woman with big ideas and an unusual point of view. That young woman was down in her intestines, biding her time, or perhaps dead, suffocated in all the shit.

Was being free to do what you needed and be who you wanted-truly free-monstrous? If so, it was not a wrong kind of monstrous, but a beautiful one. A way of being to celebrate rather than run from. 

On the walls: pictures of dancers contorted in the most wondrous of ways; photos of women who dressed as her grandmother had, plain dresses and long braided hair; many pencil sketches that studied animals in motion-horse, dog, cheetah, bear; hex signs she'd made from her childhood memories of such signs hung high on barns; an interior shot of a meat locker; stills from extreme acts of art, including a woman giving birth in a storefront (for, yes, she had found such a happening, a happening she herself had once dreamt), an artist holding his arm with a face in agony because he had just shot himself with a gun for the sake of art, a woman's face operated on so as to approximate that of the Madonna in a famous Renaissance painting, a naked woman sleeping on a pile of straw with two large hogs.

Just what someone trying to hide their true identity as a dog would text, Nightbitch thought.

A strange and wonderful transformation of a mother, artist, and dog. Really well and emotionally written, and positively strange. I almost wish it was longer and that the last chunk was drawn out more the way the earlier parts were, but I’m happy with the artsy, weird ending this took. Awesome book. 

One day, the mother was a mother, but then one night, she was quite suddenly something else...

In this blazingly smart and voracious debut, an artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced she's turning into a dog.

An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler's demands, only to discover a dense patch of hair on the back of her neck. In the mirror, her canines suddenly look sharper than she remembers. Her husband, who travels for work five days a week, casually dismisses her fears from faraway hotel rooms.

As the mother's symptoms intensify, and her temptation to give into her new dog impulses peak, she struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity secret. Seeking a cure at the library, she discovers the mysterious academic tome which becomes her bible, "A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography," and meets a group of mommies involved in a multi-level-marketing scheme who may also be more than what they seem.

An outrageously original novel of ideas about art, power and womanhood wrapped in a satirical fairy tale, "Nightbitch" will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. And you should. You should howl as much as you want.

erin alise 

a frightening perspective on motherhood. 

jacq bridge

taylor miles hopkins

At first, I did not think that this book was aimed at me, but it turned out to be a very powerful metaphor for womanhood. Definitely a unique and unforgettable piece of work

Lili

At first, I did not think that this book was aimed at me, but it turned out to be a very powerful metaphor for womanhood. Definitely a unique and unforgettable piece of work



ohseababy

Only think I dislike more than obvious and transparent metaphors/allegories are obvious and transparent metaphors/allegories that are then simplified and stated to their audience. Bleh.

One day, the mother was a mother but then, one night, she was quite suddenly something else...

At home full-time with her two-year-old son, an artist finds she is struggling. She is lonely and exhausted. Her husband, always travelling for his work, calls her from faraway hotel rooms. One more toddler bedtime, and she fears she might lose her mind.

Instead, she starts gaining things, surprising things that happen one night when her child will not sleep. New appetites, new instincts. And from deep within herself, a new voice...

Nightbitch is a haunting, gruesome and beautiful fever dream. I was lost in it, I was bewitched by it and I was completely consumed by it.

3.5
Never read a book about motherhood before. The descriptions of isolation, relationships, art, what it means to be an artist, and feminine rage are moving but occasionally lack nuance by giving no room for interpretation. Some quotes from this book are so amazing. Literally changed my perception of motherhood so much. 

I loved how after she accepted herself as Nightbitch, she became the art and her relationship with her family and herself became more real almost immediately.

The writing really ruined it for me. I’m following the book when it comes to the story & the magical realism & the feminist take on motherhood & women’s labour etc. but the writing did so much telling rather than showing I just couldn’t get into it. 

Karmen 

cloud

listening to africa by toto makes me act the exact same way.

I think there was too much "telling" of the metaphors/themes throughout. interested to see how this will be as a film !

marlisa

Maria

i hate everyone in this book including the baby

amari

I really enjoyed the blend of magic and realism, and the exploration of motherhood. Very visceral. I can imagine the writing style wouldn't be for everyone. 

“I want to be an artist and a woman and a mother I mean a monster I want to be a monster"

Nightbitch, a book that took me 6 months to read and caused last year's slump, had all the makings of a profound but relatable novel in a bizarre packaging: a strange and exciting synopsis alluding to kafka, an allegory of female rage, postpartum realities, and motherhood in general, and what a cover, right? I was so thrilled going into this, but sadly, it just went in circles and flatlined.

On the rare parts where it was good, it was really good — ravaging. Nightbitch would also have these snarky side comments about everyone, which was pretty hilarious. But mostly, the inner monologues about her mundane life just rambled on forever. This could be intentional ala Bunny, which is often being compared to this book, and Woolf's The Waves, to capture her unfiltered, animalistic thoughts, but sadly, it just didn't have that kind of impact. 

y✦

“I want to be an artist and a woman and a mother I mean a monster I want to be a monster"

Nightbitch, a book that took me 6 months to read and caused last year's slump, had all the makings of a profound but relatable novel in a bizarre packaging: a strange and exciting synopsis alluding to kafka, an allegory of female rage, postpartum realities, and motherhood in general, and what a cover, right? I was so thrilled going into this, but sadly, it just went in circles and flatlined.

On the rare parts where it was good, it was really good — ravaging. Nightbitch would also have these snarky side comments about everyone, which was pretty hilarious. But mostly, the inner monologues about her mundane life just rambled on forever. This could be intentional ala Bunny, which is often being compared to this book, and Woolf's The Waves, to capture her unfiltered, animalistic thoughts, but sadly, it just didn't have that kind of impact. 

[ me: give this woman a break!!

rachel yoder: arf arf motherf*cker ]

Cody Degen

** spoiler alert **
           I wasn’t expecting it to be as much about what life is like as a SAHM mom as I was expecting her to be a full on werewolf doing werewolf things but I enjoyed and appreciated that aspect of it. 

Even though it was different than I expected I really appreciated how fucking weird the book was willing to be, although for all that I wish it would’ve had the courage to not spend the last few pages essentially explaining the themes and ideas of the book verbatim. I thought they were communicated really effectively to begin with so it kinda ended on a sour note in the same way that someone telling a pretty good joke would if they worried you wouldn’t get it so they explained why it was funny.

Wow what a harrowing, liberating, exhilarating, horrifying take on motherhood, womanhood and personhood.

I loved that it got weirder, wilder, and bitchier as it went. I can see why folks abandon it in the first section. For something so intense, the MC feels so distant at times. And the intellectual feminist awakening she has around just asking her husband to do things and then he does them and then she loves him again and then he’s cool with her being Nightbitch … idk. Felt a little “women are just holding themselves back” to me.

But omg when she killed the cat!!?! And how it all became art at the end?! I’ll be thinking about this for a while.

Amelia

‘I want to be a monster’ too 🐺

Wow what a harrowing, liberating, exhilarating, horrifying take on motherhood, womanhood and personhood.

I loved that it got weirder, wilder, and bitchier as it went. I can see why folks abandon it in the first section. For something so intense, the MC feels so distant at times. And the intellectual feminist awakening she has around just asking her husband to do things and then he does them and then she loves him again and then he’s cool with her being Nightbitch … idk. Felt a little “women are just holding themselves back” to me.

But omg when she killed the cat!!?! And how it all became art at the end?! I’ll be thinking about this for a while.

fatru tamzil

Nightbitch was, in my opinion, a hell of a ride. 

I received this read as a recommendation from a friend. A very specific recommendation: I wanted to see the feral, unhinged girls actually win in the book. I don't want them to be punished. I want them to get what they wanted to and get away with it. And on that front? Nightbitch delivered. We met a character that is called 'the Nightbitch', she is your regular Mother, your regular housewife that tends to children and her husband. One day, though, she felt a change in her being--fur sprouting, canine teeth growing--her husband of course didn't buy this, but Nightbitch is persistent that she is changing, especially because she felt the changes herself. 

This book is about feminine rage through and through. We see how much Nightbitch--Mother--rages inside for not being able to be herself after marriage. She worked in art, and that might have been not made much money, but she liked it. It makes her feel needed. While she doesn't actively hate being a Mom (in fact, for the majority of the book she shows us that she loves being a mother, she is just tired that all of her responsibilities fall only unto her shoulder, and none of her husband's. ), she wanted to do something more. Hence, the transformation of her being a Nightbitch, something whole and something Feral, and something Other than the expected role society gave her. 

I really like how crass-cut and brutal the critiques of gender roles in this book. This particular paragraph stood out to me, and I know as soon as I read this paragraph, my read of this book would be enjoyable read: 

No, the mother finally said. I think working mother is perhaps the most nonsensical concept ever concocted. I mean, who isn’t a working mother? And then add a paid job to it, so what are you then? A working working mother? Imagine saying working father.

Throughout the text, this is Nightbitch's recurrent theme: that being a Mother was not enough for Mother. That she needed to be something else entirely, she needed art, she needed to be and to feel like herself, and motherhood, though she was not opposed to it, rarely provided her with that chance. The fire that she nursed, this was her core, her source to be the Nightbitch. And what a beautiful transformation it was. 

I think what makes this book not yet a five stars material for me is that some of the issues felt very...White. The character itself acknowledges this, that the very thing they are able to do is because they have the privileges to do so because they are a White Woman. And while acknowledging that is a good thing, the subtle white feminism that creeps on this book make it not a 100% enjoyable reading experience. 

Still, Nightbitch is a hell of a reading for its feminime rage and its complex characters and feral Mothers.

jess larry

first dnf of 2023 🎁

its so exhausting, too many metaphors, excessively long sentences & an all over the place writing style

Taous Merakchi

a beautiful and conceptual exploration of the effects of postpartum and the ways that violence is so inherent in many aspects of motherhood. loved it but took me a while to read in order to fully understand the novel. why do i keep reading books about postpartum depression despite the fact i plan on never being pregnant ? we will never know 

ayden

only read this bc amy adams is starring in the adaptation, hopefully the movie is good bc this wasn't

I fear motherhood, yet I fear the lack of motherhood 

Nightbitch A Novel