Sleeveless

by Joi Brozek

Sleeveless is the darkly humorous and provocative story of Lisha, a sardonic and very twisted teenager living on Long Island in the late 80s, dealing with the accidental death of her younger sister after a botched DIY abortion. Alienated from her peers and a fanatically religious mother, Lisha begins exploring the creative potential of self-abuse, through what she refers to as skin design. When her razor art becomes the latest trend at school, it’s all she can do to maintain the purity of her original vision and protect the memory of her sister. Employing a variety of styles and shifting tempos to describe Lisha’s descent into an inner-world of visceral creativity, Sleeveless is an intensely psychological novel, a stunning debut by this gifted writer.

Genres: Fiction, Mental Illness, Mental Health, Psychology

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

About the author

Joi Brozek is a native New Yorker but loves and lives in New Orleans, LA with her husband and 4 cats. Her first novel, Sleeveless, was published by Phonylid Books in 2002. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Brooklyn College. She has worked in the Community department at Yelp for 14 years. Her work has appeared in Enchanted Living Magazine and on the national Yelp blog. In her free time, she can be found drinking iced coffee and shopping for esoterica in the French Quarter, traveling to foreign places or losing herself in a great book.

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book at all. The only reason why I bothered to finish it is because it has been on my wish list for 5 or 6 years and I actually paid money for it. A lot of the reviews say the writing is wonderful and almost poetic, but I don't see it that way. The writing was way to abstract for me. I don't think I understood half of what I read. Okay, maybe just a quarter I didn't understand, but I just didn't enjoy this at all. :(

[leathamarie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing in a way that offered no hope, nothing positive to be gained, nothing to redeem. Writing style made almost no logical sense. Took me to a dark place in my spirit. DNF.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous, painful book.