What do you think?
Rate this book
a place a feeling something he said to you
Written in seamless second person, A Place, A Feeling, Something He Said to You is a stunningly real account of abuse rendered in vivid color, from the tall green trees in the guided meditation you improvise to soothe his violent rage to the red light that gives you the chance to jump out of his car. Alexandra Naughton has written a graceful, fearless, and regrettably relatable book about surviving an abusive relationship and finding power in telling your story.Amy Berkowitz, author of Tender PointsThis book is a warning. One that starts as a secret, evolves into a whisper, and ends in a blaring alarm that shatters us to our core. Recounting the horrors of finding oneself suffocating in an abusive relationship, Naughton devotes herself to regaining her narrator's agency. As she tries to write a clear path out, we find that it's never as easy as it seems. a place, a feeling, something he said to you devotes itself to narrative as a means to cleanse, heal and write oneself out of a nightmare. The effect is gut-wrenching in its vulnerability; livid in its vividness. a place, a feeling, something he said to you is a brave and timely work. Ashley Obscura, author of Ambient Technology
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2020
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Alexandra Naughton
27 books60 followersAlexandra Naughton is a writer based in Richmond, California. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Be About It Press, established in 2010.
She is the author of six poetry collections including You Could Never Objectify Me More Than I've Already Objectified Myself (Punk Hostage Press, 2015), I Will Always Be In Love (Paper Press, 2015), and I Wish You Never Emailed Me (Ghost City Press, 2016). Her first novel, American Mary, was published by Civil Coping Mechanisms in 2016.
Her writing has been widely published on the web and in print, and she performs regularly in the Bay Area and elsewhere.
Find her on instagram, twitter, facebook, patreon
For bookings and other inqueries, please email bookingnaughton@gmail.com.
Naughton's work straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry, and explores themes such as self-objectification, existentialism, the frailty of text-based communication, and capitalism.
In a review of her first poetic novel, American Mary, on the literary website Heavy Feather Review, Eric Nguyen wrote: “Naughton is clearly more of a conceptual writer, one who at once challenges and entertains. Her characters are reflections of systems—systems of oppression, as well as systems of support. She can be playful and deeply serious and—by the last pages of American Mary, as the book takes on a monologue quality—very powerful. In the end, Naughton does what [other internet writers] could not: be avant-garde not only in form, but politics as well.”
She is the author of six poetry collections including You Could Never Objectify Me More Than I've Already Objectified Myself (Punk Hostage Press, 2015), I Will Always Be In Love (Paper Press, 2015), and I Wish You Never Emailed Me (Ghost City Press, 2016). Her first novel, American Mary, was published by Civil Coping Mechanisms in 2016.
Her writing has been widely published on the web and in print, and she performs regularly in the Bay Area and elsewhere.
Find her on instagram, twitter, facebook, patreon
For bookings and other inqueries, please email bookingnaughton@gmail.com.
Naughton's work straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry, and explores themes such as self-objectification, existentialism, the frailty of text-based communication, and capitalism.
In a review of her first poetic novel, American Mary, on the literary website Heavy Feather Review, Eric Nguyen wrote: “Naughton is clearly more of a conceptual writer, one who at once challenges and entertains. Her characters are reflections of systems—systems of oppression, as well as systems of support. She can be playful and deeply serious and—by the last pages of American Mary, as the book takes on a monologue quality—very powerful. In the end, Naughton does what [other internet writers] could not: be avant-garde not only in form, but politics as well.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 11, 2021
In straightforward prose the author details an abusive relationship in a way where you can very much feel what the persona in the book is going through. There is scene after disturbing scene of mental abuse and you can only hope the woman in the book finds a way to break up with him. Because of how detailed the scenes are, this book could very much be triggering to anyone who has been in this type of relationship. However, this is a story that must be told, and more people should read this book. I'm glad to say there is good resolution at the end.
June 25, 2021
Been having trouble keeping up with book reviews, even if I have kept on reading, whilst returning to Italy from San Fransisco, dealing with jet lag, the languid heat, seeing friends, and beginning to prepare to go back to work.
But enough excuses.
This short novel, by Bay Area stalwart Alexandra Naughton, is very good. Personally I liked it a bit less than her first novel, American Mary but I think for reasons that will make almost all other readers prefer this one better. That is to say, I really loved the courage that American Mary showed in making the reader to do almost all of the work in terms of interpretation, allowing the scenes to stand in a kind of radically ambiguous relation one to the other. This shorter novel, however, is quite pointedly the study of the narrator's relationship with a manipulative, narcissistic, deeply damaged, creep, and how, try as she might to resist and escape, such people dominate, whine, then blackmail, and generally make you pity them, cajole, and cling to you long beyond one's capacity to put up with them and remain sane and/or humane. This novel does a great job of taking us, scene by scene, through the relationship in all of its annoying horror really well and I thus I enjoyed its craft, even as the story is harrowing--I just liked the open-ness and pure narrative pleasure of American Mary a bit more, according to my own twisted gustibus. Anyway, read Alexandra, she's a great writer and a good egg--she's also often amusing on social media.
But enough excuses.
This short novel, by Bay Area stalwart Alexandra Naughton, is very good. Personally I liked it a bit less than her first novel, American Mary but I think for reasons that will make almost all other readers prefer this one better. That is to say, I really loved the courage that American Mary showed in making the reader to do almost all of the work in terms of interpretation, allowing the scenes to stand in a kind of radically ambiguous relation one to the other. This shorter novel, however, is quite pointedly the study of the narrator's relationship with a manipulative, narcissistic, deeply damaged, creep, and how, try as she might to resist and escape, such people dominate, whine, then blackmail, and generally make you pity them, cajole, and cling to you long beyond one's capacity to put up with them and remain sane and/or humane. This novel does a great job of taking us, scene by scene, through the relationship in all of its annoying horror really well and I thus I enjoyed its craft, even as the story is harrowing--I just liked the open-ness and pure narrative pleasure of American Mary a bit more, according to my own twisted gustibus. Anyway, read Alexandra, she's a great writer and a good egg--she's also often amusing on social media.
May 3, 2022
"You are writing about it because it happened, and it happened, and it happened, and it happened."
February 8, 2022
I'm reading this for the second time. It markets itself as poetry, but reads as a continuation of one narrative story. If your not into poetry, you can still really enjoy this short book.
The story is told in first person from a young girl who is going through an abusive relationship. Her feelings, kind of take a back seat, makes it suspenseful, because you constantly are wondering when she is going to break free-when are the feelings going to come forth and she takes a hold of her life.
For anyone that's ever been in an abusive relationship, or has ever wondered what it's like, or want to see it from someone else's shoes; this is a really good book. I think it really captures what it's like to feel almost just like an object for someone else to use, not a living, breathing, person who has thoughts and feelings. Anyway, this one hit hard for me. I've been abused, and I've been the abuser-the cycle continues until you break it.
UNRELATED the author is super sweet!! She signed me a copy of her book, shipped it super fast, included a handwritten note with a cute cat drawing, and a zine with lots of little stories to read by different authors. Super cute!!
The story is told in first person from a young girl who is going through an abusive relationship. Her feelings, kind of take a back seat, makes it suspenseful, because you constantly are wondering when she is going to break free-when are the feelings going to come forth and she takes a hold of her life.
For anyone that's ever been in an abusive relationship, or has ever wondered what it's like, or want to see it from someone else's shoes; this is a really good book. I think it really captures what it's like to feel almost just like an object for someone else to use, not a living, breathing, person who has thoughts and feelings. Anyway, this one hit hard for me. I've been abused, and I've been the abuser-the cycle continues until you break it.
UNRELATED the author is super sweet!! She signed me a copy of her book, shipped it super fast, included a handwritten note with a cute cat drawing, and a zine with lots of little stories to read by different authors. Super cute!!
December 1, 2023
This is *definitely* poetry.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews