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A review by ghosthermione
Burnt Tongues by Amanda Gowin, Terence James Eeles, Tyler Jones, Phil Jourdan, Chuck Palahniuk, Matt Egan, Richard Thomas, Neil Krolicki, Tony Liebhard, Fred Venturini, Gayle Towell, Dennis Widmyer, Brien Piechos, Brandon Tietz, Richard Lemmer, Michael De Vito Jr., Keith Buie, Bryan Howie, Jason M. Fylan, Chris Lewis Carter, Adam Skorupskas, Daniel W. Broallt, Jay Shaw, Gus Moreno
Did not finish book.
2.0
This book promised "boundary-breaking", "transgressive" stories. They really aren't. They're not a bad read, per se, but they're disappointing.
First off, for a "boundary-breaking" book, there are only two female authors out of 20.
And then, it's all classic stories of boring white people, probably somewhere boring in the US. What I read so far anyways.
The intro by Palahniuk makes it sounds like we're going to get stories that have nothing to do with our own lives, which is what makes them brilliant, yada yada. Then the first story (written by a guy) is about three middle-school girls trying to kill themselves, and I'm sorry but not only does it sound familiar for me and a good dozen of my female/afab friends, but characters like that have peopled the stories of my teens.
Suicide is not boundary breaking or a new topic. The story of a girl who was abused by her ex and now has a crappy job? not a new topic. This one guy who's obsessed by a woman who doesn't even know him? Not new. Also not boundary-breaking to make the mentally disabled guy the perv and villain of this story. Guy remembering how cruel he was to his sister as a kid (and basically killed a cat)? not really groundbreaking either. I stopped after those.
Overall it seems like this book is a bunch of guys stroking their egos by making it look like they're writing Never Written Before stories, which are actually just the stories women have been telling for years, OR the stories those dusty old drunk "classic" authors have been telling all along and been revered for them, for some reason.
First off, for a "boundary-breaking" book, there are only two female authors out of 20.
And then, it's all classic stories of boring white people, probably somewhere boring in the US. What I read so far anyways.
The intro by Palahniuk makes it sounds like we're going to get stories that have nothing to do with our own lives, which is what makes them brilliant, yada yada. Then the first story (written by a guy) is about three middle-school girls trying to kill themselves, and I'm sorry but not only does it sound familiar for me and a good dozen of my female/afab friends, but characters like that have peopled the stories of my teens.
Suicide is not boundary breaking or a new topic. The story of a girl who was abused by her ex and now has a crappy job? not a new topic. This one guy who's obsessed by a woman who doesn't even know him? Not new. Also not boundary-breaking to make the mentally disabled guy the perv and villain of this story. Guy remembering how cruel he was to his sister as a kid (and basically killed a cat)? not really groundbreaking either. I stopped after those.
Overall it seems like this book is a bunch of guys stroking their egos by making it look like they're writing Never Written Before stories, which are actually just the stories women have been telling for years, OR the stories those dusty old drunk "classic" authors have been telling all along and been revered for them, for some reason.