Women and Other Animals: Stories

by Bonnie Jo Campbell

The stories in this prizewinning debut collection encompass train wrecks, circus acts, river journeys, transspecies transmogrification, and growing up and growing old around the small towns of Michigan. Without glamorizing poverty, Bonnie Jo Campbell details a vision in which shabbiness, beauty, brutality, and wisdom all coexist -- and yet the stories can be surprisingly optimistic, often funny.
In "Sleeping Sickness ," a twelve-year-old copes with the sexually charged atmosphere at home by carefully tending her vegetable garden. In " Bringing Home the Bones, " a farmer who prides herself on self-sufficiency must lose her leg before she can meet her estranged daughters halfway. In "Eating Aunt Victoria ," a young woman finally looks into the face of her dead mother's lesbian lover.
Campbell's hard-working, sometimes hard-drinking, women protagonists are both dangerous and vulnerable, living without seat belts or televisions or the right kind of love. Not surprisingly, the children in these stories often look beyond human role models to dogs, cows, and even gorillas.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Animals, Contemporary, Womens, Literary Fiction, Americana

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Bonnie Jo Campbell is the author of the National Book Award finalist American Salvage, Women & Other Animals, and the novels Q Road and Once Upon a River. She is the winner of a Pushcart Prize, the AWP Award for Short Fiction, and Southern Review’s 2008 Eudora Welty Prize for “The Inventor, 1972,” which is included in American Salvage. Her work has appeared in Southern Review, Kenyon Review, and Ontario Review. She lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she studies kobudo, the art of Okinawan weapons, and hangs out with her two donkeys, Jack and Don Quixote.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The softness of their kiss gives me the seasick feeling that I'm with my sister and the groom on their honeymoon bed. After all, I shared a room with her until I left for college. ...I fear that this kiss will not end, that time will freeze and abandon me in this orbit. My sister's eyes are closed, her lashes spread out over her cheeks. Even after they've opened again, her eyes remain in the sleep of that kiss as though covered with a milky effluent, something the fairies would make in their mouths and spit onto those they favor.

I'm letting my sister down by being sucked into her fairy tale. Someone should always remain vigilant.
~ from Shotgun Wedding

Bonnie Jo Campbell's women have trouble buying into the fairy tale. They are strong and capable women who do what needs to be done. They face reality every day and are too busy to wait around for the arrival of Prince Charming.

Here are sixteen excellent stories about women, both young and old, who lead uncharmed lives, and their pets, their children and the men who try to love them. Most of the stories are dead serious, though there are some moments of levity, as in this bit from Shifting Gears:

Tommy produced a second pair of beers from his house and gave one to Bob. As they were cracking open the beers, Sharon turned and pitched her rake through the air at the picnic table. It fell way short of them.

"What's the matter, honey?" yelled Bob.

"Why don't you two just stay out here all night and drink beer. I'm sick of your faces. You make me want to scream." She went inside and slammed the door.

"I wonder if she's going to make supper," said Bob.

I LOVE these women. Hell, I've occasionally BEEN one of these women.

[Kansas · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2023...

Volvemos a una colección de cuentos escritos por Bonnie Jo Campbell (graciassss Dirtyworks) que es cuando más me gusta, y no pretendo enrollarme mucho porque todo lo importante que hay que decir sobre esta autora a flor de piel, ya lo he dicho en otras reseñas salvo el de comentar algunos de los cuentos que más me han impactado. Porque las historias de Bonnie Jo Campbell calan, no tanto por el impacto que puede suponernos ser testigos de las vidas que llevan sus personajes, sino precisamente porque escarbando en sus personajes, la Campbell hace que podamos sentirnos tan identificados a la hora de entender la necesidad de supervivencia, algunos de sus personajes se conforman pero otros no, otros buscan un resquicio de luz ante los embates de la vida.

Los dieciséis cuentos giran una vez mas casi enteramente en torno a mujeres de todas las edades que se enfrentan en determinadas circunstancias de sus vidas a decisiones que pueden ser esenciales quizás para dar un giro a sus vidas, o no... Bonnie Jo Campbell se despoja de sentimentalismos baratos e incluso cuando retrata la sexualidad por poner un ejemplo, la desnuda de rollos sentimentales…, la vida es lo que es, sin tapujos… conecta estrechamente la naturaleza con sus personajes, viven perfectamente ensamblados, animales incluidos…muchos de ellos compartiendo con estas mujeres momentos realmente decisivos.

Los personajes de la Campbell anhelan escapar, pero no lo hacen, la desesperanza es el día a día en la vida de estos inadaptados que a veces parecen salidos de una historia de Flannery O’Connor aunque Bonnie Jo Campbell ya en estas historias publicadas de 1999 poseía su propia voz, perfectamente marcada e identificada. En las historias de esta autora hay mucho depredador suelto, y de eso saben mucho las mujeres de Bonnie Jo Campbell, y por eso han aprendido a ser profundamente independientes, supervivientes…, muchas de ellas son mujeres nada fáciles, batalladoras y bruscas, pero en cada una de sus historias hay un momento, un resquicio de luz que las hace ser tremendamente cercanas y humanas. Todos y cada uno de los cuentos se merecen una relectura, que es quizás donde puede estar la madre del cordero, pero resaltaré los que más me han impactado:

- Matiné de Circo: Big Joanie enfrentada a la mirada de un tigre de un circo. Ella que distribuye granizados entre el público durante el espectáculo cuando el tigre se escapa, es justo el momento en el que el tiempo parece detenerse. La forma en que Bonnie Jo Campbell ralentiza este momento narrando cada pequeño detalle en aquel entorno hasta que finalmente Big Joanie a través de esta mirada se encuentra rememorando un hecho de su pasado, resulta impactante. Una maravilla de cuento.

"Big Joanie ha visto a esa tigresa saltar a través de un aro de fuego, pero jamás ha visto bien sus ojos amarillos de diosa ni ha leído la caligrafía de su cara pintada de guerra. La Tigresa le devuelve la mirada."

- Chica Gorila: Un cuento narrado desde el punto de vista de una adolescente que podría haber salido de un cuento de Flannery O´Connor. Una chica poseída por un salvajismo dificil de domar y que encuentra refugio en el único sitio donde se ve integrada.

"- Pero somos hermanas, ¿no lo ves? -insisti, con una voz excepcionalmente clara-. Las dos necesitamos transformarnos."

- El Beso de la escopeta: Una maravilla de cuento, corto y contundente en el que volvemos a una historia narrada en primera persona, durante la cual la hermana de una novia en plena boda rememora un momento impactante: una noche cuando eran niñas en las que que se quedan solas en casa. Una noche en la que ella fue la auténtica heroína.

"Salta a la vista que este novio está más acostumbrado a cargar fardos de heno y terneros, pero a pesar de ello se las arregla para levantar con sus manazas el velo de mi hermana y colocárselo con elegancia sobre el pelo, dejando al descubierto su rostro. Siento cierta vergüenza ajena por este ritual de destape, aunque yo misma me he desnudado en todo tipo de lugares con hombres con los que no tenía intención de casarme.”

- La enfermedad del sueño: Quizás sea el cuento en el que se podrían visualizar las imágenes más hermosas de esta colección de cuentos. Regina vive sola con su madre en la granja hasta que llega a sus vidas John Blaine, un encantador de serpientes a quien su madre se agarra como un hierro ardiendo. Maravilla.

"Un sábado después de la semana de deshielo, mamá se pasó todo el día cavando cerca de los pinos. Se convirtió en una diminuta silueta de mujer , muy lejana"

- Cambio de marcha: Puede que sea el único cuento desde un punto de vista masculino: Tommy está recién separado y bebe los vientos por la mujer de su mejor amigo, Sharon, embarazada y que parece odiarlo a muerte. Una joyita en las que hay que bucear entre lineas para llegar a la esencia.

"A Tommy le recordó una tormenta que viajara hacia el este por el cielo. Sintió ganas de acercarse a Sharon, de arrodillarse y rodearle las piernas y los pies con los brazos, de confesarle que haría cualquier cosa por ella. Apartó esos pensamientos de la cabeza, ante la remota posibilidad de que Bob pudiera leerle la mente."

Dieciséis cuentos, algunos salvajes, otros liricos, magicos y profundamente impactantes, que escarban en la esencia de la naturaleza humana. Bonnie Jo Campbell, diva máxima!

"Durante toda su vida, Bess había tenido la sensación de que iba a reventar y salir disparada: lejos de su ropa, del pupitre del colegio, de esa ciudad, de su propia piel."

[Pamster · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, please check out her author page: http://www.bonniejocampbell.com/about...

So awesome!

Loved these stories. I'd recommend them to anyone, but I'd say you should skip Old Dogs because it is too fucking sad and I wish I could unread it. These stories of poor rural women and girls, Michiganders all, are great. Some are amazing. I had to reread the first one after I finished it, and I never ever read like that, but it had hooked me intensely from the first sentence and I needed to go through it all again.

I've read both her short story collections, and now have only her novel to read. That part sucks. I'd like more.

[Dan Trudeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a little prejudiced when it comes to Bonnie Jo Campbell. When I was in the Creative Writing program at WMU, she was the star grad student. That said, this is one of the best story collections I've ever read. Characters that would come off as "bigger than life" in the hands of other authors feel compelling and real in hers. The stories I enjoyed the most were "Gorilla Girl", "Eating Aunt Victoria", "Sleeping Sickness", "The Fishing Dog", and "Bringing Home the Bones."

[Roxy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories, I especially liked Shotgun Wedding, and Fishing Dog, which was expanded to the novel Once Upon A River. Campbell writes about ordinary people whose lives are so fraught with poverty and abuse, that their dreams are small.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Campbell’s short story collection, American Salvage, so I was excited to start exploring her other works. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories in her debut collection, although admittedly I was slow to warm up as I didn’t really enjoy the first couple of stories. I love reading about rural women, about Michigan, about the land and its animals and the different ways we relate and connect with the natural world, about motherhood, about sexuality, and so much more that Campbell explores so well. My favorite stories were “The Fishing Dog,” “The Sudden Physical Development of Debra Dupuis,” “Celery Fields,” “Taking Care of the O’Learys,” and “Bringing Home the Bones.”

[Evan Robertson-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection. A lot of short story collections slip in a few long, self-indulgent, bulky stories, but Campbell does not do that here, to her benefit. Each of these stories are trim, elegant, honest, and readable. Centered around working-class women in rural Michigan, these stories communicate Campbell's deep insight into that community and her ability to make the ugly beautiful. Didn't love the last story, and, having read other works of hers, you can see how she's evolved as a writer from this debut short story collection, but I still really enjoyed it. Also, this was published in '99--great year! My favorites:
Gorilla Girl
Eating Aunt Victoria
The Perfect Lawn
The Sudden Physical Development of Debra Dupuis
Celery Fields
Taking Care of the O'Learys

[Pepa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mucho se habla de las mujeres de Bonnie Jo Campbell pero no hay que perder de vista sus personajes masculinos. Todos solos por igual, entristecidos.
La Campbell tiene un don para lo anecdótico y lo escueto que, en tres pinceladas, traslada a lo universal y, de paso, a lo más íntimo del lector.
Una lectura imprescindible.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michigan stories about Michigan women. I love this writer! She's GREAT! She's so Michigan!!
He tried to make conversation: "Do you like working in the plastics factory?" Smoke poured out of her nose as she spoke. "It's sort of like dying and going to hell five days a week."

[Vir · Rating 3 out of 5]

No están mal, pero estoy un poco decepcionada al leerlo justo después de 'Las aguas' que me ha gustado tanto

[Peter William Warn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing much happens in Bonnie Jo Campbell's stories, or very much does. Her writing in Women and Other Animals is as vibrant and evocative as a fine oil painting. It invites one to see carefully captured details and to ponder their context.

If you look at Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and see a smiling woman, you will find much to enjoy in Campbell's stories. If you wonder why she is smiling and what the smile led to, you will find much more.

In one of Campbell's stories, a girl's trip with her mother to the town garbage dump is simply a routine errand. Or it is a flight over the lush landscape of a young imagination. The featured rhyming game hints at the ineffable links between parent and child, who know each other as they can know no one else.

In "Shotgun Wedding" the tale hauntingly makes good on its title, but not in a way one might expect. In another story, a young woman exults in the new and wonderful power of her extraordinary chest:

Unfettered by gravity, Debra's breasts rose and floated above her rib cage, helium-filled flesh dirigibles, buoyant and blissful honeydew melons. Debra had been heartbroken this summer when her ex-best friend Nicole had invited another girl to go with her to Disney World, but it seemed God had taken pity on her, and as a consolation had sent her these sacred globes, these heavenly orbs, these twin suns around which the rest of her body now revolved.

Or perhaps the breasts are extraordinary only to the person on whose body they have suddenly appeared.

The treasures in Campbell's stories are varied. Their richness can lure a reader more strongly to one than to the others until the allure of another makes it most highly prized. One stand-out among the exceptional others is "Gorilla Girl," in which a young woman finds an unusual outlet for her rage and alienation, which might be more than the typical emotional tumult of adolescence. Tempting also is "Old Dogs" a seemingly simple description of three women and their dogs sleeping in one room during winter. They share history and much more as well, and Campbell's prose allows us to share it all with them.

Among the sixteen gems in Women and Other Animals, "The Smallest Man in the World" is especially dazzling. Our narrator is a woman who might be especially beautiful. We have only her word for that.

There is no doubt that she has given unusual thought to the power of beauty. The narrator's beauty causes her to feel kinship with a man who makes his living as a circus freak.

At the jukebox the two men who accompany the Smallest Man in the World stand near him so they can form an equilateral triangle, as if this can protect him. They are heartbroken at what transpires between their small man and the showgirls. After all, they must love him; they have become attached to his smallness the way men become attached to my beauty. When a man is with me, he cannot forget my beauty the way he forgets everything else. Intimate conversations and promises are forgettable, as are meals created with attention to every detail of taste and presentation. Even the loveliness of naked breasts can mean nothing when skin remains covered for too long. But his size is a constant reminder, as is my face.

The story concludes with the beautiful woman preparing to reach out to the Smallest Man in the World, although the tale is almost certain not to end there. Campbell's storytelling creates momentum that carries her characters into readers' thoughts. Without trying to, we imagine what will happen next. We see the possibilities as clearly as if they were our memories.

Many of the stories in Women and Other Animals were published originally in such publications as Alaska Quarterly Review, So to Speak and Third Coast. "Shifting Gears," a rich and surprising glimpse into how a man tries to adjust after a divorce, was the official story of the 1999 Detroit Auto Show.

Perhaps such honors are not on par with, say, landing a book on top of The New York Times best-seller list or winning a Pulitzer Prize. It might be said that Campbell has not yet reached literature's big time.

That might be said, but only with regret.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shied away from reading this book for a lot of years, having seen some of the stories in workshop and feeling like I wasn't all that interested in then. But way turns on to way, as we all know, and finally it's time to read these, and maybe it was the time away, but I really enjoyed these, even some of those that I remember, which seem better now, more realized and interesting and fuller and stranger than I remember.

This isn't a perfect collection: Bonnie writes two kinds of stories here, comic ones about people in town, and then tragic ones about folks in the country, and that's a little odd, since I think it kind of patronizes both groups by how orthodox her approach is here-- a story about funny misfits in the country, or a serious one about kids in high school would go a long way. And while some of these stories have jagged and strange shapes, many of the others progress toward conflicts and then resolutions that you can kind of see coming as the machinery of story gears up-- the conflict and resolution don't feel fake or unearned, just telegraphed in ways.

That said, some dynamite stories, including the last one ("Bringing Home the Bones") that kept me feeling like I'd been punched in the face and made me want to cry, even though I'm pretty sure it doesn't end as much as peter out. I will track down a copy of _American Salvage_ and try to read Bonnie's stuff more consistently, and with more charity, in the years to come.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author, and I love it and her. Her extraordinary writing skills aside, half of these stories are deep explorations of fat women characters, which I wasn't expecting. I've never heard Bonnie Jo Campbell's name come up in relation to fat studies, and when I google "bonnie jo campell" and "fat activism" / "fat studies" / "fat politics," absolutely nothing comes up, which, after reading this book, is astonishing to me.

Her writing, though. It's sublime. Not "wow, what terrific writing!" sublime, but creepy sublime, the kind of sublime that makes you feel, as you're reading it, like something might be out there--and she's not saying anything particularly creepy; it's just the way she's arranged her words, and even though you can see what she's doing there, it still affects you as though you can't.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Bonnie Jo Campbell's writing. Her collection of short stories are so breathtaking. She takes everyday people, often down and out, and her depiction of their lives, loves and losses are overwhelmingly accurate. She brings to life every character she writes about. It's as if she knows these people personally. Her depiction of woman who are often hard drinking, vulnerable, and so wise is both compassionate and humourous. She is such a fantastic storyteller!!

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abandoned after two stories. Well-written but FAR too dark and violent for me, and with similarly abrupt choose-your-own-resolution sort of endings.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something special about this collection of short stories. I found myself unable to breeze through this book...even if a story was only a few pages long I would have to take a break after finishing it. I think it's because the characters were so realistic that it was hard to move quickly between stories—I had to take time to absorb everything I had read.

However...as I neared the end of the book, I started to grow bored of it. The stories are all character-driven and didn't have very strong or interesting plots. Most of the stories focused on women in rural Michigan—women who are self-sufficient, tough, and maybe a little bit on the redneck side, yet intelligent...or at least clever and practical enough. Most of the characters are dealing with some sort of problem (sexuality, Holocaust survivor guilt, mental illness, being too beautiful...), but the author is so brilliant at portraying characters that she humanizes even the most unlikable people.

Unfortunately, most of the stories in this collection are stories that I would not care to read again, with the exception of "Gorilla Girl," "Eating Aunt Victoria," and "The Perfect Lawn."

[Arnoldo Rosas · Rating 4 out of 5]

La voz narrativa de Bonnie Jo Campbell es fuerte y eficiente tal como son las mujeres que hacen de personajes en su relatos. Mujeres capaces de hacer frente a una realidad poco amable, aspera y cruenta muchas veces, pero sin perder la ternura y quizá la esperanza en un entorno que dificilmente cambiará para mejor.
De esta colección de relatos destaco "Matiné de circo" por su perfecto manejo del tiempo y las escenas casi cinematográficas, llenas de una tensión que va creciendo hasta un final perfecto.
También señalo por su particularidades a "Juego de rimas", "El perro pescador", "El súbito desarrollo físico de Debra Dupuis", "Cuidar de los O'Leary" y a "El césped perfecto".
Segundo libro de relatos que leo de esta autora y debo confesar que me tiene embelesado.

[Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is SOOOO great! It's been a few semesters since I've taught an intro to fiction course, but I can't wait to teach it again so I can include one of these stories. Particularly, I think I want to do "Bringing Home the Bones," and I want to juxtapose it w/ 'Good Country People," "Everyday Use," and "Sonny's Blues."It'll go so well with them.

[Jack Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkably finely-drawn stories where every symbol, object, character choice, and word reflects and enriches theme. Full of realness and the tragedy of human assumptions and human failings. Deft, outstanding, perfect. There is so much to feel and unpack in each story; I read this collection slowly, sighing every time I finished one. I will be reading Campbell again.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant stories set in rural Michigan, from the points of view of a variety of women from many walks of life. Funny, quiet, intense, and honest. Good stuff.

[Mckinley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like the writing style.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is from a city in Michigan about 20 miles from me. She's quite popular, is an award-winning author, and engages the reader with a style that's simple yet profound.

[Mark S H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories, every one. Becoming one of my favorite authors.

[Roger Prindle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love tis woman's writing. She paints pictures with her words

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of unique and engaging stories, told from a female point of view.

[Xavier Pueyo Díaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es nota que hi ha contes primerencs, salvatges i, fins i tot, una mica surreals. Però escriu molt bé, construeix històries excelents en poques planes. És molt bona, aquesta Campbell.

[Carrie Cantalupo-Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when when I start to think it’s too brutal (but honest) there’s a story that is so tender you could cry. Amazing writer!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of her best short stories live in this collection. It’s easy to assume the role of voyeur in any Bonnie Jo story. Captivating.

[Heather Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a fan of short stories. I mentioned this before but I either get fully invested and want more OR find that they have no point to time and no ending. This was no exception and after the first 3 I almost gave up - RHYME GAME was HORRIBLE. And I didn't understand why a woman would write about fat, ugly women and put us in a horrible light. THEN I continued to read, I still found I'm not a fan of short stories, however the stories, and their purpose started to grow on me. I also have never read a collection of short stories that INCLUDED discussion questions, so kudos to the author for that!

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am a big fan of Bonnie Jo Campbell, this was not my favorite of her works. For a more consistently amazing short story collection , I prefer American Salvage