Book Review- Amelia Gray's Gutshot

PLOT- A collection of visceral, magical, and often horrifying short stories by Amelia Gray.

LIKE- I received Amelia Gray's short story collection, Gutshot, as part of my Quarterly Company Literary Box. The spring 2017 box was curated by Borne author, Jeff Vandermeer and as part of his picks, Vandermeer included Gray's collection.

I had never heard of Gray previous to her book arriving in my box, but immediately, I was drawn to the title and cover art. I packed Gutshot to take on my cruise to Alaska, but just a few pages into the first story, I realized that this was too special of a collection to read while on a distracting, family holiday. I stuck to magazines for the vacation. Now, eight months later, I finally found a distraction free afternoon and took the plunge.

Many of her stories are raw and powerful. There are few that elicited the feeling of the title: Gutshot. I felt physically moved and wounded while reading them.

Here are a few of my favorites.

A Contest- a micro-short about people competing to put on the best display of mourning for a person that they love who has died. They are told that the gods will pick the person that has experienced the most grief and that person's loved one will come back to them. Several people are mentioned and they are all very worthy, including parents grieving over a lost child. The story simply ends with one sentence involving a character who had not been mentioned earlier in the story, a woman who opens her front door to find that her cat has returned. This had me in tears. I've lost so many people and pets in my life, but honestly mourning a pet is such a different type of grief. 

The Lives of Ghosts - Marcy has recently lost her mother, but discovers that her mom is haunting her in the form of an enormous pimple on Marcy's face. A pimple that talks and gives advice, including unsolicited motherly advice. This story was so completely unexpected, humorous, and ultimately heartbreaking. I found myself laughing out loud at this irreverent story.

Thank You- A hilarious story about an escalating passive-aggressive exchange of thank you notes. Thank You, as with many of Gray's stories, increases in outrageousness, creating a fantasy situation. Very funny and relatable. I don't think there are many women who won't relate to this frenemy story with manners.

DISLIKE- I can't claim to like each of Gray's stories with equal measure; some were so bizarre that I found trouble connecting. Often her stories turned grotesque or incredibly violent, which is not something that bothers me, but I also felt that it didn't always serve the story, like it was for shock value more than anything.

RECOMMEND- Yes! Gray is a talented writer and the stories in Gutshot are not ones that I can easily compare to another author. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are certainly original. The stories that got me in my gut, I will not soon forget. I look forward to reading more stories by Gray.

Book Review - Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo

PLOT- In her memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, comedian Amy Schumer shares stories from her childhood, career, and love life. 

LIKE- When choosing books to take on vacation, I have a tradition of picking memoirs by comedians to read on the plane. They tend to be highly entertaining, an easy read in a distracting environment. For my winter holiday, I went with Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. Recently, my husband and I have been on a Amy Schumer kick, binge watching her television series: Inside Amy Schumer. She has an off-beat world view that informs her comedy. She makes us laugh. 

Although often humorous, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, reveals a more serious, introspective side of Schumer. She writes about her rocky childhood, which includes financial changes, her father's alcoholism, and her mother's infidelity with Schumer's best friend's father.

Schumer's father was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, which Schumer writes about in length. Having cared for a sick parent, I found these stories to be the most close to my own heart, especially those of her father being sick in public. Crushing. There is a beautiful story about the last time she went body surfing with her father, when he knew that soon his health would decline to the point where it would be impossible. They braved the cold waters to have that last experience together of an activity that he used to do with her when she was a kid. Amy has a lot of love for her family, a theme that is repeated throughout the book. As an only child, I was very envious of the bond that she shares with her younger sister, Kim. 

One of the biggest shocks, was Schumer revealing that she had been in a highly abusive relationship in her twenties. Schumer is so fearless and strong in her career, that it is hard to imagine that she could be a victim of domestic abuse. The power of her sharing this story, is that it can truly happen to anyone. Domestic abuse doesn't just happen to "weak people". 

Schumer writes about the Louisiana movie theatre shooting that occurred during a screening of her film, Trainwreck. Two women, Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, were fatally shot and this completely shattered Schumer. She became involved in gun control activism, including dedicating the end of this book to the cause. 

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, made me an even bigger fan of Schumer. I like that she took a serious tone throughout much of her memoir, rather than writing a flippant humor book. She is still young, but she had plenty to share without padding her memoir with filler. The actual story of her lower back tattoo is painfully funny. 

DISLIKE- Nothing. However, I'd like to caution anyone who like me, thinks that The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, is good pick for a flight...this is a noisy book, meaning I had to reign myself in from laughing-out-loud, and I had to try to hide the fact that I was moved to tears. This is not a memoir that you can read without emotion.

RECOMMEND- Yes! I know that Amy Schumer tends to be one of those polarizing entertainers that you either love or hate, however, I would still recommend The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo to non-fans. Not all, but much, of Schumer's memoir is a departure from her comedy and a really meaty story of dysfunction and family.