I haven't read a lot of Mary Gaitskill. In fact, her short story, "Girl on the Plane," is the only other Gaitskill work I've read. Based on the strength of that story, however, I picked up this novel. I had some reservations because I normally don't like sex in fiction (I also don't like to read ...
loved this novel. "Veronica" is freshly and honestly told with a perspective not often seen in serious fiction. The narrator is a woman named Alison. At the time we meet Alison, she is about fifty years old, alone, poor, broken and sick with hepatitis and other ailments. She lives in San Rafael, ...
The first 40-50 pages of Mary Gaitskill's writing that I read was a lot of fun - I was nodding along and "oh my god, totally" -ing with her descriptions of uncertain people in uncertain situations. So then I went on a Mary Gaitskill binge - I read everything she wrote, and realized that I was re-...
She was in a state of ghastly anxiety. He was married, for one thing, to a Korean woman whom he described as the embodiment of all that was feminine and elegant. Not only that, but a psychic had told her that a relationship with him could cripple her emotionally for the rest of her life. On top o...
It’s late; why were you out?” “It’s before ten,” she said. I said, “It’s still late for you.” She ignored that and said, “When can I come up there? I want to see my horse.” “You know you can come whenever your mother says it’s okay. But your voice sounds different. Why haven’t you been talking to...
Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 1997 by Mary Gaitskill All rights reserved, including the right of reprod...
She was like that, but she had something else, too, and it was that “something else” quality that made what she did so peculiarly aggravating. Before I go any further, it must be said that I arrived at the festival tense and already prone to aggravation. I have been divorc...