not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them

by Jenny Boully

Fiction. Poetry. Literary Nonfiction. NOT MERELY BECAUSE OF THE UNKNOWN THAT WAS STALKING TOWARD THEM is a dark re-visioning of J.M. Barrie's Peter and Wendy--as only Jenny Boully could have written.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Fairy Tales

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2011

About the author

Jenny Boully is the author of four books, most recently not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them (Tarpaulin Sky Press). Her other books include The Books of Beginnings and Endings (Sarabande Books), [one love affair]* (Tarpaulin Sky Press), and The Body: An Essay (Essay Press, first published by Slope Editions). Her chapbook of prose,Moveable Types, was released by Noemi Press. Her work has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry, The Next American Essay, Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present, and other places. Born in Thailand, she was reared in Texas by parents who farm and fish. She attended Hollins University, where she double majored in English and philosophy and then went on to earn her MA in English Criticism and Writing. At the University of Notre Dame, she earned an MFA with a poetry concentration. She earned a Ph.D. in English from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and daughter and teaches at Columbia College Chicago.

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a strange book, but one that continually drew me into the characters and world that Boully expands on

[Mackenzie Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Final conclusion: Peter Pan is an asshole

[Paula Koneazny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This prose retelling of the Peter Pan tale has both an upper and a lower body, just as in the Peter Pan story, there is the underground home of the Lost Boys & the little house above ground that the boys build for Wendy. Two tellings proceed in horizontally linear fashion across the pages. The upper world and the underworld. Although both partake in a scatological re-purposing of the familiar childhood story. Boully's "story" is the psycho-sexual and concerned-with-life-and-death, real-and-make-believe, childhood-vs-aging one that lives within or alongside or underneath the Mary Martin musical version ("Don't you think, Wendy, that it is a strange and demonic thing: in the theatre, grown women play at being me? That's disgusting, says Wendy"). In addition to the two-story house of the page, Boully employs a formal strategy of italicizing certain words. In "Acknowledgments," she explains that italics indicate excerpts from other texts. However, they are also performative. I found myself emphasizing such italicized words while reading, which created a punctuated rhythm in my head. If I were to read the text aloud, I would not be able to escape a sing-song emphasis, which might be an incantatory lullaby of sorts (a tale to put children to sleep or to entrance them into make-believe) or a mnemonic device. The Home Underground sections often dispute or talk back to the fantasy-world of make-believe ("Perhaps, perhaps the food could be less non-existent. I think that Slightly's teeth are falling out quickly simply due to malnutrition, mal-eating"). There are even hints of feminist rebellion ("Dearest Tink, should you and I together unionize against the Peter? Equal pay for equal work, we'll say . . . . We would all like some benefits, we'll say"). Throughout, Boully questions the nature of narrative, its purloining of characters for narrative purposes rather than for the character's well-being ("And it was his story [whose? Peter's? de Barrie's?] that made it so that the girl Wendy wished to go away. You see, it is story that takes them"). Wendy, in the home above ground, participates in the make-believe while embodying & remembering the real world of mothers, fathers, reading, meals,etc. ("I complain of Wendy, says Tootles; I complain of Wendy, who is always wanting to give us endings"). Is Wendy's role the fairytale version of prototypical woman's work, whereby a wife & mother's role is to remember, whether it be the dental appointments or the whole kit and kaboodle of culture? And why might she acquiesce in this game? Perhaps because, "For example, he can put a little something inside of you, and you will carry that for the rest of your life; thimble all empty underneath in the inside." For the sake of that thimble "the Wendy girl is called to mend, to mend. What is a pocket but a hole? A home. For the housewife who has grown, has grown, the home is nothing but a hole."

[Sassafras Patterdale · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole time I read I was wondering why.... why I was reading this and what the point was. As a Peter Pan lover and someone who knows the source story very very well having reworked into my own dark/subversive retelling I was stuck with this book --- it seemed to take itself very seriously and be trying very hard to be.... literary? subversive? I don't have much patience for the kind of literary fiction

[Eric Susak · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes this book wonderful is how carefully crafted it is. Boully uses repetition and "The Home Under Ground," a parallel text to the main story, to constantly pull the reader closer and closer to tiny details about the Wendy and Peter Pan relationship.

This book is mystifying and hard to grasp because the dialogues between the characters is intimate and reliant on the plot of the Peter Pan story. However, the craft shows the purpose of the critique of that story.

[Isla McKetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would happen if you imposed adulthood on Neverland? How would Peter, Wendy, and Tiger Lily cope with things like pregnancy, syphilis, and poop? Boully poetically re-imagines this familiar tale from the point of view of an adult. It's beautiful and mysterious and warrants read after read after read.

[Fatima Reian · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm not sure how i feel about this book, it was too whimsical, too vague, perhaps too poetic for me, there were a couple of passages that i loved, i think i might re-read it again to fully get the idea of it.

[Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this ridiculously awesome book for Lantern Review: http://lanternreview.com/blog/2011/12...

[Helen McClory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaos of colour and detail. See my review here: http://www.pankmagazine.com/pankblog/...

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to be in love with this book. I thought it was interesting, sometimes impressive, but...I didn't really enjoy the experience of reading it. The cover art is spectacular.

[J.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

interview forthcoming at Monkeybicycle

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take flight in the darker joys and sorrows of childhood.

[Steve Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not subversive or corrosive enough.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning- The deep secrets of the story of "never growing up" brought to light.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review, "Woo," is published and appears on Jacket 2.

https://jacket2.org/reviews/woo

[Biscuits · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was grumpy and avoided this for a while. Sometimes, I'm a fool.