We All Need To Eat

by Alex Leslie

Finalist for the 2020 Western Canada Jewish Book Awards, The Nancy Richler Memorial Prize for Fiction Finalist for the 2020 Kobzar Book Award Finalist for the 2019 Ethel Wilson Fiction Award We All Need to Eat is a new collection of linked stories from award-winning author Alex Leslie that revolve around Soma, a young Queer woman in Vancouver, chronicling her attempts to come to grips with herself, her family and her sexuality.

Set in different moments falling between Soma's childhood and her late thirties, each story--bold and varying in its approach to narrative--presents a sea change in Soma's life, from Soma becoming addicted to weightlifting while going through a break-up in her thirties; to her complex relationship with her younger brother after she leaves home revealed over the course of a long family chicken dinner; to Soma's struggles to cope with her mother's increasing instability by becoming fixated on buying her a lamp for seasonal affective disorder; and the far-reaching impact and lasting reverberations of Soma's family's experience of the Holocaust as it scrapes up against the rise of Alt Right media. Lyrical, gritty and atmospheric, Soma's stories refuse to shy away from the contradictions inherent to human experience, exploring one young person's journey through mourning, escapism, and the search for nourishment.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Queer, Canada

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2018

Reviews

[Debbie Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Experimental, bold and moving. Each story takes us into new territory using a wide range of styles and techniques. I found the novella, "Who You Start With Is Who You Finish With", breathtaking. The way Alex Leslie explores the inter-generational trauma of the holocaust cut more deeply than anything I have ever read on the subject. I will be looking for more opportunities to read this author's work.

[Leah Horlick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex Leslie's new collection takes short stories to the next level - this interconnected series waves perfectly between novella-length pieces and short vignettes that are basically prose poems. These portraits of queer community, Jewish family coping, and relationships made me feel incredibly seen and also need...cry breaks. Soma is one of my favourite protagonists of the year and I didn't realize until I read this book that there are....so many...Melanies in the world. SO MANY. A must-read for Jewish queers, millenial gays, and the people who love them.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style is exquisite...but it's less of an inter-linked short story collection and more like a disjointed novel on the verge of schizophrenia. The story lines are linked, but some jumbled and quick cutting that it can feel like whiplash trying to keep it all together. A very interesting whiplash, I grant you, but nevertheless...my eyes were googling like the Cookie Monster. At the heart of the book is the story of 1939, and it is head and shoulders above everything else around it. That part on its own I would have loved to see expanded into a stand-alone novel.

[S. Kennedy Sobol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is so good. More of a review to follow as soon as I've gathered my thoughts.

[Paige Hull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbled across this book at a library book sale and picked it up on a whim. For the first 50ish pages I thought it was good but not great. I was enjoying it but it wasn’t pulling me in too much. But then it just *BOOM* became so good. I read the whole thing in a day and each story left an impression. I think it would be a good book to reread at some point to peel back the layers.

[Jennie Chantal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of interconnected stories that had me stopping to take some deep breaths as they brought up things from my own past related to family, childhood and mental illness. Just what I like from a book of short stories!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these stories which all read poetically. The stories are connected and tell a larger story about a gay Jewish female going though a rough break up and also still mourning the death of her beloved grandmother and the death of a close friend to suicide. Very interesting read.

[Eaton Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found it a thoughtful, slow rumination on a young, stalled life.