To Smithereens

by Rosalyn Drexler

A zany romance set amid the Manhattan experimental art scene and the female wrestling world of the 1970s, from an overlooked star of the Pop Art movement

When Rosa, a depressed and drifting twenty-something, meets Paul, a middling art critic, an off-kilter romance commences. Paul longs to be dominated by physically powerful women and convinces Rosa to fulfill one of his fantasies: that she become a wrestler. Soon, Rosa joins a women’s wrestling team and embarks on a tour of the South, befriends her horny teammates and their jealous boyfriends, and learns to hold her own among a crew of seedy coaches and greedy promoters. Through wrestling, Rosa learns to articulate what kind of life she wants, and to wriggle free of Paul’s attempts to possess her.

To Smithereens is a lighthearted satire of art world personalities, a glimpse into Manhattan of the 1970s—with its seedy theatres and beloved freaks—and a riotous foray into the craze of mid-century women’s wrestling. Inspired both by Drexler's experiences as one of few women in the Pop Art movement and her own career in the ring (immortalized in Andy Warhol's "Album of a Mat Queen"), and first published in 1972, To Smithereens is an antic, biting portrait of its time from a voice that speaks directly to ours.

Genres: Fiction, New York, Novels, Feminism, LGBT, Queer

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2025

About the author

Rosalyn Drexler, a painter, playwright, and novelist, has been on the scene in several arts for many years. She is well known in Soho art galleries, infamous off-Broadway, and highly regarded as a fiction writer.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rosalyn D, pioneer of the “spandexual romp,” offers up a classic in the genre, alongside Manny’s favourite, Submissions of a Lady Wrestler. The heroine is a witty free-spirited street-girl sidelined into the sleazy denizen of amateur female wrestling by a dreamy arts columnist named Paul, and—as Drexler did in her youth—takes to the ring as Rosa Carlo, the Mexican Spitfire, fighting scary “bull dykes” and Sapphic freaks. The story, not lacking in street-smart fizz and erudite crackle, isn’t particularly well structured and despite strong and funny scenes, and literary-ish doodlings from the unexciting Paul, finds itself pinned to the mat and KO’ed in round four (i.e. p86 or thereabouts). Rambling comedic vignettes and throwaway dialogue, mixed with lazy or out-of-date jive-talk, fail to lift this book into the charming and outrageously clever female wrestling comedy classic it could have been. Ding and ding.

[Kat]

to smithereens gotta be one of the worst ways to get blown

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️— Book is weird. Goes between a man and woman, he’s a horny freak and she’s a fool. She gets into wrestling and he’s weird about it. Love the sapphic aspects ofc and love weird books but not the best writing style.

[John Caleb Grenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and outlandish romance of sorts in NYC in the 70s. Definitely not like anything else getting published today. Felt a little bit like a thrown-together collage at times, mostly in the second half. Some really great sentences and dialogue, but in the end the characters and story won’t stick with me.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally hilarious. Early on a character refers to a shit stain in his underwear as "hard-edge expressionism". Drexler's writing is just SO FUN to read and I want more of it immediately.

[Joey Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny and so wacky and delightful, I think maybe everyone I know should read this? Reminded me a lot of the Holly Woodlawn movie they showed at the music box earlier this year, Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers— just like a long string of unhinged cartoonish encounters with huge personalities, some of which involve women professionally wrestling.

[Esteé Hallatt · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - a third of the way in, I could not stand it anymore. Perhaps I just did not get it, but what a load of crap.

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Read like a Chris Krause knock off with a transatlantic accent and buying in even more to the nyc who’s who

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is fine art missing? Wrestling!

[Olivia Zerger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely wild ride

[Emily TarBush · Rating 2 out of 5]

entertaining but not memorable

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

We take sex too seriously now

[Audrey Kalman]

vivid! Shoutout Avery for sending me this to read.

some lines I liked:

"I hated that pillow. I wanted to be his only pillow, but I was full of bones and resentment." (65)

“PAUL MADE ME SO NERVOUS. Even if I was just going around the corner to get a loaf of bread he’d kiss me and hold me in his arms, act as if I was going around the world and he might never see me again. It was that New York City apprehension that anything might happen the minute you step out the door” (69)

“’Just like in Vietnam,’ I said, before I could stop myself. I didn't really want to discuss politics with them.” (72)

“And I got the idea that for one week we would eat everything red: meat, apples, tomatoes, and cherries, and drink each other's blood.” (82)

“Gilda Richman dragged me into my room, kissed me on the mouth, sat me down on the bed and started talking. She lisped, which made her sound as if a tiny Gilda Richman inside the big Gilda Richman were speaking.” (87)

“Such simple needs and yet they must be arrived at intricately.” (135)

“Confusing? Damn right. Is he telling me that he is dead? Was he telling me that he was dead? I may be the victim of overthink.” (144)

“My hands wandered smoothly across a muslin landscape; I tried to follow the paths of many closely woven threads and got lost.” (178)

[Sam Leppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly every relationship, friendship, or chance meeting in this book is best described as varying degrees of problematic, but it makes for an entertaining and eye-opening read. A succession of strong female characters nicely oppose the cast of unlikable male characters. Had this been a work of fiction by a male writer it would leave a bad taste (and a star or two less in my rating) but the semi-autobiographical nature of the book adds a layer of intrigue and the female-gaze of the author gives even the more sordid scenes and passages some extra weight - especially as half the book is written from the POV of the male protagonist, Paul.

[Mag · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect this book.
Helpful to understand it is satire and written in the 60s.
Hated the first third, got into the groove of her writing, and in the end, enjoyed it.
There is no perfect story or specific plot.
But there is a theme and a message I think Rosalyn Drexler is communicating. And in some ways I found interesting.
Read for book club, and we all had so much to talk about. Definitely a great book club book; I never would have read it/finished it without that motivation.

Three stars, because I did enjoy, would like to give 2.5…. But 2 seems not enough.

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Know how the earth was formed? A big explosion. God was the first Weatherman. From the Big Bang, which blew everything to smithereens, new planets formed."

An interesting read by Rosalyn Drexler about the woman wrestler, Rosa. Not my favorite novel, but intriguing...

Drexler's history is impressive! So it is lovely to see her work span into her older age, writing this novel set in New York City in the 1970s. A different time, indeed.

[Taylor Nemetz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. I struggled to find a rhythm at times but there are so many gem moments and vignettes throughout that demonstrate Drexler’s wit and social perspective. It felt very fresh, despite being written in the 1970s. There is a lot to love about this book, though it did feel a bit like short stories with recurring characters as opposed to a fluid novel.

[Nicole Schonitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much - it does a very good job writing about sex and art in way that’s exciting/weird/not cringe - two very difficult things to do. And I love how the language shifts from the coarse 1970s New York speak to really vivid, more abstract language in the characters inner monologues. Thought provoking while still being kind of light and strange.

[Ben Shakey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious! but surprisingly the lady wrestler stuff was the least compelling. I loved how all the men in the book claimed to love strong women and then sought to control her - and the best defence that she had against them was not to fight and battle them, but to dismiss them.

I never heard of Rosalyn Drexler before so thanks to HAGFISH for putting this out.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

[DNF at 50%] The people who blurbed it seemed to find it "weird" and "funny" but this was straight up an unpleasant reading experience. The characters are unpleasant to each other, and the prose is stilted and cringey. I should stop looking at NYT recs for books.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and weird at times, lags at others. The central relationship remains interesting with the perspective changes multiple times per chapter. Wanted a bit more and then it was just sort of over. Not enough wrestling

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. There is something about the New York that it describes (early 70s) that reminds me of when I first moved to NYC in the early 80s. The characters are off beat but endearing in their own way. A place and time that's now past,

[m b · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gritty snapshot of a niche sub-culture in 1970s nyc. Has some funny critiques of the art world, and really unique characters. Most of the time I felt kind of icky and uncomfortable reading it. But overall interested story and author!!

[Tara Ryan-Gallagher · Rating 3 out of 5]

An art critic and a woman on the cusp of a professional wrestling career walk into a movie theater... What follows is a hilarious, off-beat, slightly perverted satire of romance and the art world in 1970s New York City. Witty, backwards dialogue with strong (literally) women characters and the most whiny male characters you'll ever read.

[Andy Mascola · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1970s NYC, Rosa meets Paul, an art critic, in a movie theater. Paul loves to be wrestled and Rosa obliges. The two fall in love. Paul encourages Rosa to become a professional wrestler. I loved this book and will read everything Rosalyn Drexler has written.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting scenes and very forward leaning for a 1970s book; surprising that the author based it on her professional wrestling experience.

Some parts of the plot dragged and several of the scenes felt repetitive and didn’t add to the overall vibe

[Yutian]

A book so bizarre and weird that I still don't know what to think of it. In many ways, it represents the time Drexler wrote it - 1970s, the counterculture era - as a satire and investigation of gender expectations, sexual liberation, and societal norms.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a big disappointment to me because based on the description I thought I would really like it. It seemed like it was all tongue in cheek, and the most interesting part was the author's biography.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's nothing worse than being disappointed by a book that seemed tailor-made for you.

[Jenny Osman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so weird and fun and funny and unexpected. The author draws from her own experience as a female wrestler.