Beyond This Point Are Monsters

by Roxanne Carter

Fiction. Like a gothic teleplay by Gertrude Stein, filmed by Andy Warhol, and transcribed into a stunning lyrical novel by the very voyeuristic monster at its center, lustful in equal measure for the scintilla of soap opera set pieces and the two women--one master, one slave--trapped in an ever-shifting atmosphere of vamp and apprehension."Deep in this fabulous book someone says 'i watch to aid her loneliness.' The many meanings of that phrase suggest the glittering accomplishment, the rare morality of this book. I have never read a more gorgeous novel in which the beauty is all in the mystery, not in any solution."--Bin Ramke"In gorgeous sentences, Roxanne Carter translates the uncanny paradoxes of intimacy through shadow, ocean, ash. To read BEYOND THIS POINT ARE MONSTERS is to wake in a dream, from a dream, and realize you are in a room illuminated by darkness. Its enchantments are both important and a pleasure."--Selah Saterstrom

Genres: Poetry

210 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Roxanne Carter is the author of Beyond This Point Are Monsters (Sidebrow, 2013) and Glamorous Freak: How I Taught My Dress To Act (Jaded Ibis Press, 2012). She lives in California.

Reviews

[Hollyaholmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kind of book I need an English teacher to explain to me. A technically challenging read, couldn’t tell you literally one aspect of the plot but the vibes were immaculate, I picked up this book thinking “oh cool a weird gothic horror book” and that’s what I got! Now someone please tell me what was going on.

[Jeremiah Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gertrude Stein isn't so much an influence in this novel as she is the medium in which it has been written. On a second read through, I started putting little colored page markers next to passages that are either beautifully haunting, incredibly horny, or both. My copy of the book looks like an old suitcase I hastily packed with a rainbow.

It's hard to parse as a literal story, but you definitely get the impression of a plot, or at least a series of developments in the tenor of the prose. A truly inspired take on Steinian prose and not at all what one would expect from a novel. If I were to teach a class on postmodernism or fiction writing this would be required reading. Definitely want to take a look at Stein's Tender Buttons or a couple of her poems to get a sense of the foundation this is being built upon.

10 out of 5 I'm a lesbian now.