Reviews and Comments

I was so excited for this collection of stories. Her previous collection was one of my all time favorites; weird, dark, twisted but fun, always unexpected. The book unfortunately was a major regression. Every story felt like it followed a trope I already knew. There were a few stories near the end of the collection that had that same feeling of surprise and innovation, but nothing like in Cursed Bunny. :(

I cannot overstate how much I loved this book. Babitz is such a sharp writer, and hilarious. She writes about the LA that the world imagines it to be, glamorous and sexy, hedonistic and privileged, and yet she imbues it all with an existential reflection that makes you realize just how frail and flawed and human all these people are. Their skin may glow in the golden sun, but the hard shadows cast from it create an abyss into which they cannot help but stare.

A really remarkable book. Haunting tale about how one little girl builds the narrative of her life through tragedy, and what it means when we are an unreliable narrator of our own inner monologue. Full of beautiful, strange, poetic moments driven by characters that still feel deeply human.

A lot of ideas crammed into a story about post AI apocalypse. Would have been better if some were left out. I liked some of the characters some of the time.

A strange but enjoyable allegory of a woman seemingly destined to forever be a temp worker, taking on not just the jobs, but also the lives of those she is filling in for.

Heard about this on Little Atoms shows.acast.com/littleatoms/episodes/little-atoms-874-julianne-pachicos-jungle-house

How do you change the world? How do you break cycles of bitterness, revenge, and violence that drag all involved down into despair and misery, even when it temporary masquerades as "justice"?

Those questions are at the heart of this fantasy novel full of vibrant, fully realized queer characters. Each character brings their own history and personal struggles to those questions, with Marks' deft storytelling weaving them into a coherent and touching narrative.

Will definitely be reading the rest of this series asap.

Part history of a calamitous fire, part true crime investigation, with sprinkles of snapshots into the life of current public library workers and those of the past.

I enjoyed this book, though not really for what it was supposed to be. I feel like the investigation into the cause of the fire fizzled out quickly, a sort of non-story with no satisfying conclusion.

But the snapshots of the lives of previous and current library staff was absolutely delightful. Some real strong characters in the libraries history who really shine in this book.

Overall, interesting and enjoyable.

Speculative fiction short stories by a mid-20th century feminist Japanese performance artist and writer…what’s not to like? Well, the writing, that’s what. I found myself consistently interested in the ideas but bored by the actual writing. Characters were hollow vehicles for ideas and plot and I just could not get into it.

Another sweet and generous tale, so full of heart and the doubts that can fill one. I found myself moved to think about the world differently and literally reconsidered my career choices at one point while reading. The way the author teases out ideas about identity and self-perception really landed for me.

On a less positive note, this book got me trouble when I laughed out loud in bed and woke up my wife who had just nodded off. Thanks Becky!