What do you think?
Rate this book
Invasions
"In Invasions, Calvin Gimpelevich writes fearlessly about trans and queer bodies, sex, and the possibilities of gender. In these edgy, strange stories, characters transform, transition, and transgress to discover themselves and, sometimes, each other."--Carter Sickels, author of The Evening Hour
A body-swapping personal trainer and her trans girlfriend turn to a life of crime. A man mourning his dead lover becomes trapped in the mind of the leader of a bathhouse raid. A trans man, recovering from top surgery paid for with a stolen credit card, finds strange connection and condemnation among his fellow patients. The fifteen stories in this debut fiction collection from author Calvin Gimpelevich move in the borderlands between realism and surrealism, investigating gender, class, relationships, and the powers we still wield within spaces of powerlessness. They articulate the invasions we commit, the invitations we receive to cross over into another person’s world.
"Invasions blew my mind. Flipping between speculative worlds deeply rooted in realness and emotion and more familiar landscapes that tip on the edges of personal apocalypses, Gimpelevich's writing is strong and sure, taking us places we really haven't been. I'm hooked."--Michelle Tea
"This is one of the most gripping, crisp, and moving collections of short fiction I have read in a long time. Gimpelevich's stories are so firmly controlled, immaculate lakes with roiling depths that unapologetically probe interlocking webs of queerness, class, protection, disability, transness, addiction, race, and love. This writer deserves a slot on the bookshelf right next to the Carys Davies and the Raymond Carver. I love, love, love this book."--Casey Plett
A body-swapping personal trainer and her trans girlfriend turn to a life of crime. A man mourning his dead lover becomes trapped in the mind of the leader of a bathhouse raid. A trans man, recovering from top surgery paid for with a stolen credit card, finds strange connection and condemnation among his fellow patients. The fifteen stories in this debut fiction collection from author Calvin Gimpelevich move in the borderlands between realism and surrealism, investigating gender, class, relationships, and the powers we still wield within spaces of powerlessness. They articulate the invasions we commit, the invitations we receive to cross over into another person’s world.
"Invasions blew my mind. Flipping between speculative worlds deeply rooted in realness and emotion and more familiar landscapes that tip on the edges of personal apocalypses, Gimpelevich's writing is strong and sure, taking us places we really haven't been. I'm hooked."--Michelle Tea
"This is one of the most gripping, crisp, and moving collections of short fiction I have read in a long time. Gimpelevich's stories are so firmly controlled, immaculate lakes with roiling depths that unapologetically probe interlocking webs of queerness, class, protection, disability, transness, addiction, race, and love. This writer deserves a slot on the bookshelf right next to the Carys Davies and the Raymond Carver. I love, love, love this book."--Casey Plett
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 16, 2018
1 person is currently reading
310 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Want to read
December 21, 2018[Edit: I missed the talk I mention below because it was during the worst of the Paradise fire air pollution, and I didn't get the book yet, but I did read this author's story in "Meanwhile, Elsewhere" and it was excellent, so I will definitely be ordering Invasions sooner or later.]
I just heard of this book right this minute. I see the author is speaking locally at the Lavender Library so I guess if I have a chance to get the book and read it before November 14th I'll go check that out.
I just heard of this book right this minute. I see the author is speaking locally at the Lavender Library so I guess if I have a chance to get the book and read it before November 14th I'll go check that out.
October 11, 2018
I adored "Rent, Don't Sell", which previously appeared in Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers - a story of a disabled veteran-turned-personal-trainer and her trans girlfriend navigating a world in which body-swapping is not only possible but profitable. Not every story in Invasions was quite as striking, but similar themes of embodiment abound in this collection, which prods at intersections of class, race, gender, age, and power - evoking disquiet, longing, and melancholy without completely drowning the reader.
Besides "Rent, Don't Sell", standouts include "Eternal Boy" (an early-twenties butch has a series of encounters with an older woman who perceives a teenage boy), "The Sweetness" (a mourning psychic finds himself trapped in the mind of a violent homophobe leading a bathhouse raid), and "Revenant" (told from the perspective of a young transracial adoptee as she and her best friend looks for clues about his missing sister - this one is strong and haunting and reminded me of Kelly Link, in a good way).
Besides "Rent, Don't Sell", standouts include "Eternal Boy" (an early-twenties butch has a series of encounters with an older woman who perceives a teenage boy), "The Sweetness" (a mourning psychic finds himself trapped in the mind of a violent homophobe leading a bathhouse raid), and "Revenant" (told from the perspective of a young transracial adoptee as she and her best friend looks for clues about his missing sister - this one is strong and haunting and reminded me of Kelly Link, in a good way).
August 12, 2019
One of the best short story collections I’ve read in awhile. The literary range demonstrated here shows a deft handling of craft, and the stories themselves span an emotional range from heartbreaking to surreal. Though sometimes it made me cry, and sometimes made me nauseous, I adored this book. Cannot wait to see what the author writes next!
December 28, 2019
I loved the diversity and the variety of this short story collection, in both the stories and the characters that it presents. Some of the characters felt so realistic (especially in “You Wouldn’t Have Known”). The concepts of gender, body image, and sexuality are twisted and turned in beautiful and thought-provoking ways all throughout these stories.
4 out of 5
4 out of 5
April 17, 2023
Pretty wrenching collection.
Velcro - made me giggle. so short and sweet. "I know better now."
Rent, Don't sell - This one really stuck in my brain. A great mess of feelings and ethics and bodies. Complicated and imperfect.
The Sweetness - My favorite in the collection. Wow, ugh.
Also liked: Wolves, Better, Revenant, Runaways
Velcro - made me giggle. so short and sweet. "I know better now."
Rent, Don't sell - This one really stuck in my brain. A great mess of feelings and ethics and bodies. Complicated and imperfect.
The Sweetness - My favorite in the collection. Wow, ugh.
Also liked: Wolves, Better, Revenant, Runaways
December 12, 2018
Invasions is Calvin Gimpelevich’s debut short fiction collection that draws together 15 stories which interrogate gender, sexuality, bodies, relationships, boundaries and borders. Although Gimpelevich’s work has previously been featured in other places before, such as Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers, Electric Literature and Hashtag Queer, I had not had the pleasure of coming across his writing until now. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from a new-to-me writer but I was very impressed both by Gimpelevich’s writing and the collection as a whole.
With 15 stories there’s a lot on offer to chew through, digest and experience. Opening with ‘Velcro’, Gimpelevich doesn’t hold back from tearing readers from their places of comfort and throwing them deep into the often uncomfortable and always complex realm of bodily experiences. Just as you’re becoming acclimatized to this radical new space which the queer body occupies, Gimpelevich serves us ‘Rent, Don’t Sell‘ a visceral, compelling, and raw portrayal of bodily alienation, economy, and boundaries. In one of the standout stories of the collection ‘Rent, Don’t Sell‘ embodies the experiences of ex-Marine Nok, who lost her arm in service and now works at a true gym of the future where clients pay to have Nok swapped into their bodies where she pushes their bodies to the absolute limits in physically exhausting work outs before returning to her own. Alongside Nok, Gimpelevich also introduces us to her sister, who rents her body out for others to enjoy, and her trans girlfriend, who was body-swapped with a trans man in the hopes of achieving more bodily congruence but who deeply regrets her decision. A few stories on we get hit by the horrifying ‘Revenant‘ told from the perspective of a child whose best friend’s older sister, Cass, went missing, only to be dragged sometime later (still “alive”) from a nearby river after our protagonist begins to experience a bodily-connection with Cass through her clothes. The penultimate story, ‘You Wouldn’t Have Known‘, was another striking story which stands out for me and one which provides a pervasive look into a private sexual realignment clinic through the perspective of a young trans man who is waiting to have surgery alongside numerous trans women, young and old, and their relatives.
Invasions is not a comfortable book but it is an essential book. It provokes, it challenges, it questions. It’s a book that takes everything you might think about bodies, gender, relationships, borders and boundaries, shakes them up, and leaves them scattered all over the floor. As a trans person, I see countless books written to comfort cis audiences which provide a very generic wash of some kind of “trans experience” but not Invasions. It fundamentally disturbs your assumptions, your ideologies, and your identity in an a literary approach that is refreshingly honest.
There are parts of this collection that left me feeling uncomfortable in a not good way, for example in ‘Transmogrification’ which puts the mind of a six-year-old girl in the body of a grown man and throws her out into the very adult world and the ending of ‘Rent, Don’t Sell’ in which Nok and her girlfriend forcibly kidnap the trans man who she body-swapped with and puts them back into their original bodies – something which set Natasha back onto her path of happiness but which left me feeling sick to my stomach at what that would be like for the trans man. These are just two small examples of things I personally found difficult to read, but otherwise don’t detract from the overall outstanding nature of Invasions as a whole.
I want to thank Instar books for sending me an ARC of Invasions and leading me to discover something refreshingly new. This is a fantastic debut collection from Gimpelevich, a fantastic writer who I’m sure will continue to produce work in the future that breaks all kinds of boundaries. I look forward to reading any future work and would encourage you all to check out Invasions which is now available to buy!
Check out my blog for more reviews!
With 15 stories there’s a lot on offer to chew through, digest and experience. Opening with ‘Velcro’, Gimpelevich doesn’t hold back from tearing readers from their places of comfort and throwing them deep into the often uncomfortable and always complex realm of bodily experiences. Just as you’re becoming acclimatized to this radical new space which the queer body occupies, Gimpelevich serves us ‘Rent, Don’t Sell‘ a visceral, compelling, and raw portrayal of bodily alienation, economy, and boundaries. In one of the standout stories of the collection ‘Rent, Don’t Sell‘ embodies the experiences of ex-Marine Nok, who lost her arm in service and now works at a true gym of the future where clients pay to have Nok swapped into their bodies where she pushes their bodies to the absolute limits in physically exhausting work outs before returning to her own. Alongside Nok, Gimpelevich also introduces us to her sister, who rents her body out for others to enjoy, and her trans girlfriend, who was body-swapped with a trans man in the hopes of achieving more bodily congruence but who deeply regrets her decision. A few stories on we get hit by the horrifying ‘Revenant‘ told from the perspective of a child whose best friend’s older sister, Cass, went missing, only to be dragged sometime later (still “alive”) from a nearby river after our protagonist begins to experience a bodily-connection with Cass through her clothes. The penultimate story, ‘You Wouldn’t Have Known‘, was another striking story which stands out for me and one which provides a pervasive look into a private sexual realignment clinic through the perspective of a young trans man who is waiting to have surgery alongside numerous trans women, young and old, and their relatives.
Invasions is not a comfortable book but it is an essential book. It provokes, it challenges, it questions. It’s a book that takes everything you might think about bodies, gender, relationships, borders and boundaries, shakes them up, and leaves them scattered all over the floor. As a trans person, I see countless books written to comfort cis audiences which provide a very generic wash of some kind of “trans experience” but not Invasions. It fundamentally disturbs your assumptions, your ideologies, and your identity in an a literary approach that is refreshingly honest.
There are parts of this collection that left me feeling uncomfortable in a not good way, for example in ‘Transmogrification’ which puts the mind of a six-year-old girl in the body of a grown man and throws her out into the very adult world and the ending of ‘Rent, Don’t Sell’ in which Nok and her girlfriend forcibly kidnap the trans man who she body-swapped with and puts them back into their original bodies – something which set Natasha back onto her path of happiness but which left me feeling sick to my stomach at what that would be like for the trans man. These are just two small examples of things I personally found difficult to read, but otherwise don’t detract from the overall outstanding nature of Invasions as a whole.
I want to thank Instar books for sending me an ARC of Invasions and leading me to discover something refreshingly new. This is a fantastic debut collection from Gimpelevich, a fantastic writer who I’m sure will continue to produce work in the future that breaks all kinds of boundaries. I look forward to reading any future work and would encourage you all to check out Invasions which is now available to buy!
Check out my blog for more reviews!
December 22, 2020
Calvin Gimpelevich's book of short stories, "Invasions," is a rich field for a progressive new world. Here we have speculative fiction, trans and poly characters, and a range of the LGBTQ community living their lives in vivid portrayals.
The most moving story for me was "The Sweetness." It gripped in suspense and the speculative world where someone can 'flash' into another's deep well of thoughts and desires. A man grieving his lover who died in a car crash they were in together, goes to a bathhouse. That night there is a raid, and he is knocked unconscious, but the part of him that can flash dips into first the man he had just had sex with in a private room, then into the lead officer who is brutalizing them. He finds a trove filled with his history and deep secret. The destruction done by the police leads to fire and with his flash working he brings up the officer's father's heroism to spur him to go back into the burning building to bring his body out. Will he make it? We want him to, but instead we learn the officer's latent desire to enter the bathhouse, his hidden deep down homosexual desire. The concept is well understood, the more violence towards gays the more suppressed the homosexuality of the oppressor, but here we are in a vicious moment with it all playing out, and it is totally captivating.
Each story brings it's own punch, some stronger than others.
The most moving story for me was "The Sweetness." It gripped in suspense and the speculative world where someone can 'flash' into another's deep well of thoughts and desires. A man grieving his lover who died in a car crash they were in together, goes to a bathhouse. That night there is a raid, and he is knocked unconscious, but the part of him that can flash dips into first the man he had just had sex with in a private room, then into the lead officer who is brutalizing them. He finds a trove filled with his history and deep secret. The destruction done by the police leads to fire and with his flash working he brings up the officer's father's heroism to spur him to go back into the burning building to bring his body out. Will he make it? We want him to, but instead we learn the officer's latent desire to enter the bathhouse, his hidden deep down homosexual desire. The concept is well understood, the more violence towards gays the more suppressed the homosexuality of the oppressor, but here we are in a vicious moment with it all playing out, and it is totally captivating.
Each story brings it's own punch, some stronger than others.
July 18, 2019
Solid collection of stories centering trans and queer characters representing a range of genders and orientations, some poly content, great class analysis throughout. Not as speculative as I expected having previously read "Rent, Don't Sell" in Meanwhile, Elsewhire -- that one's a terrific story exploring disability, transness, body swapping, sex work, and more, but there's a range of modes collected here. Sturdy, crisp writing. "Wolves," from the pov of a caterer sent to staff a wedding in a remote place during a blizzard, is particularly gripping--had me shivering on a 92-degree day. Not exaggerating. I'll be excited to read what Gimpelevich puts out next.
October 15, 2019
The marketing department went a bit over-the-top with this collection: the surreality and revolution of them aren't as sizzling as the back cover make them out to be.
But that may actually be due to the the assured characterizations, the groundedness of the prose, and the confidence of Gimpelevich as a writer which makes these seem less like a transformative new perspective and more like wonderful additions to the long line of short story canon.
The variation is beautiful: short and humourous to long meditations, always interesting and achingly familiar characters. There isn't a false or forced note here.
But that may actually be due to the the assured characterizations, the groundedness of the prose, and the confidence of Gimpelevich as a writer which makes these seem less like a transformative new perspective and more like wonderful additions to the long line of short story canon.
The variation is beautiful: short and humourous to long meditations, always interesting and achingly familiar characters. There isn't a false or forced note here.
April 25, 2020
Effortlessly laying bare the intersections of oppression — Calvin Gimpelevich's Invasions conjures visions and possibilities that liberate even as they ache. Every story is a gem, but "Rent, Don't Sell" and "You Wouldn't Have Known" were so good they hurt: exploring gender, bodies, and minds in bold and groundbreaking ways.
February 7, 2021
Like any book of short stories, some stick with me way more than others. But on the whole, I liked this collection a lot. I don't read a ton of sci-fi/speculative fiction, but I've read enough to get tired of the conceit being that people can upload their consciousnesses or switch with another person, but there is a story in here that took it in an interesting direction.
February 6, 2019
extremely good writing chock full of queers with a soupçon of science fiction? don't mind if I do!
July 4, 2021
The two standouts here are "Rent, Don't Sell" and "The Sweetness."
February 18, 2024
I enjoyed some of these stories- all very queer and trans - but some of them were entirely too short. Maybe this is a beef i have with short stories, but these especially seemed to end abruptly without a satisfying context or world building or character development or plot let alone an ending.
Read
November 18, 2018Read for Transcendent 4 purposes :) but actually most of the trans stories in it are not 2018 releases but rather reprints. Might review the book a bit later!
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library (thank you for ordering it on my request!)
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library (thank you for ordering it on my request!)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews