Freaky collection of short stories

This book feels sort of impossible to rate. I think Lidia Yuknavitch is brilliant, full stop, and one of the bravest writers I've read. If you've read her other works and agree with me, or if you've enjoyed writers like Kelly Link and Carmen Maria Machado, read this one.

Took me some time to read it, most of the stories are not for me and I’ve discovered that’s I’m not a fan of short stories.

Yuknavitch’s prose gleams— the writing is as vivid as the cover— but some of the stories made me uncomfortable. I typically like stories that reframe taboos, push me out of my comfort zone, and make me confront my repulsions. Many of these stories seemed to use taboo and shock (pedophelia, incest, etc.) as a device without really committing to deeper exploration. The repetitive use of the device comes across at best, gimmicky, at worst, a fetishization (A Woman Going Out: I’m looking at you). In Streetwalker, Yuknavitch exposes judgment’s fickle and situational nature. The story about two women in a “neighborhood turning” shines as the strongest with its nuance and self awareness. One woman, a former addict, buys an hour from the other woman, a sex worker, to “save” her but cannot shake condescension of the act, thus both their time is wasted and they sit in uncomfortable silence— I was hungry for more of this interesting conflicting inner dialogue about conventional morality but I didn’t see it elsewhere in the collection to this degree. 2.5.

After reading a couple of solid mysteries, I read 'Verge' and another book by Yuknavitch ('The Book of Joan'--which I enjoyed more). These stories are all intriguing on their own, but my favorite was the one focusing on a girl who has lost a hand and is now in the process of being trained to work in the black market. All of the stories hinge upon something--a surprising revelation about the main character or an ironic ending. Some of them didn't capture me the way others did.

Great writing, but not really my style.

To było dziwne. Interesuje, ciekawe, ale dziiiiiwne.

Difficult subject matter but we’ll done. The last piece is a beautiful prose poem.

very mixed feelings, the prose is lovely and impactful but unsettling and confusing at times

First Yuknavitch, won’t be last but…

I need a whole story, not just a poor man’s moshfegh