Body Language: Writers on Identity, Physicality, and Making Space for Ourselves

by Nicole Chung (Editor), Matt Ortile (Editor), Nina Riggs (Contributor)

A kaleidoscopic anthology of essays published by Catapult magazine about the stories our bodies tell, and how we move within—and against—expectations of race, gender, health, and ability.

Bodies are serious, irreverent, sexy, fragile, strong, political, and inseparable from our experiences and identities as human beings. Pushing the dialogue and challenging monolithic myths, this collection of essays tackles topics like weight, ability, desire, fertility, illness, and the embodied experience of race in deep, challenging ways.

Selected from the archives of Catapult magazine, the essays in Body Language affirm and challenge the personal and political conversations around human bodies from the perspectives of thirty writers diverse in race, age, gender, size, sexuality, health, ability, geography, and class—a brilliant group probing and speaking their own truths about their bodies and identities, refusing to submit to others’ expectations about how their bodies should look, function, and behave.

Covering a wide range of experiences—from art modeling as a Black woman to nostalgia for a brutalizing high school sport, from the frightening upheaval of cancer diagnoses to the small beauties of funeral sex—this collection is intelligent, sensitive, and unflinchingly candid. Through the power of personal narratives, as told by writers at all stages of their careers, Body Language reflects how, as we evolve as people, so do the ways we celebrate and inhabit our bodies.

Featuring essays by A.E. Osworth, Andrea Ruggirello, Aricka Foreman, Austin Gilkeson, Bassey Ikpi, Bryan Washington, Callum Angus, Destiny O. Birdsong, Eloghosa Osunde, Forsyth Harmon, Gabrielle Bellot, Haley Houseman, Hannah Walhout, Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Jess Zimmerman, Kaila Philo, Karissa Chen, Kayla Whaley, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Marcos Gonsalez, Marisa Crane, Melissa Hung, Natalie Lima, Nina Riggs, Rachel Charlene Lewis, Ross Showalter, s.e. smith, Sarah McEachern, Taylor Harris, and Toni Jensen.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Anthologies, Disability, Memoir, Short Stories, Feminism

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2022

About the author

Nicole Chung is the author of A Living Remedy (April 4, 2023) and the national bestseller All You Can Ever Know (2018). Named a Best Book of the Year by over twenty outlets, including NPR, The Washington Post, Time, and Library Journal, All You Can Ever Know was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and NAIBA Book of the Year, a semifinalist for the PEN Open Book Award, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and an Indies Choice Honor Book. Nicole is currently a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Time, The Guardian, Slate, and Vulture. Find her on Twitter, Mastodon, and Post at @nicolesjchung.

Reviews

[Danielle | Dogmombookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

BODY LANGUAGE |

This anthology of essays about - bodies - in all that that means was so enthralling.

Before I cracked open the book, merely looking at the title i figured the writers would be discussing in relation to race, gender, age, which for sure some of these essays are. But it is also so much more than that, as a collection.

It's about disabilities, deafness, assault, eating disorders, and then abstractly about insecurities, aloneness, fears. And it's about reconfiguring how ephemeral and truly bizarre our bodily forms are, tethered to this surreal thing we can life affecting all sensory experiences we encounter with the perceived world around us. It's about trying to exert control over the one thing we should be able to hold within our grasp, but at the same time realizing the futility of it, and the strength of what our bodies do, sometimes apart from what our brains are telling them to do.

[Abby Rubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of essays covering bodies in every fashion, from pregnancy joys and struggles to nude modeling to creating clothes to fit your body to nerve damage and so much more, these 30 narratives unpack what it means to live in this world in a body, to live through a pandemic, to create space where people are trying to make you invisible. The diverse voices cover various ages, life stages, countries of origin, genders, and classes. I can't wait to push this book on everyone I know and I hope to see more Catapult anthologies like this in the future.

[Nawal Qarooni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typically don’t love essays or short pieces but found this compilation truly compelling in its breadth and scope, varied perspectives and rumination on bodies. I couldn’t put it down and enjoyed each essay thoroughly. Perfect for my daily train commute.

[A.V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sometimes impressive, often visceral anthology of radical self-acceptance in all body forms, but most strikingly when female, queer, and/or disabled. Some of the chapters were by people with experiences and perspectives I had truly never heard in such detail before and THAT is what makes this whole collection a stand out. Many of those either took me fully out -- or violently slammed me back into -- my own body. That said, the whole thing DID take me a very long time to read since there was variation in my interest and emotional bandwidth story to story.

My top "transcending this mortal plane" moments in order of appearance and with ratings:
- "Surviving Karen Medicine" by Destiny O. Birdsong. 5. A weighty one on finding adequate medical care for an undiagnosed severe & painful illness while in a black & female body in America.
- "What I Did for the Chance to Have a Baby Someday" by Karissa Chen. 5+. About the lengths taken in the name of fertility as alluded but while single and in such a descriptive and gutwrenchingly, deeply yearning way. So 20% body horror and 80% putting you in a headspace where if someone handwaved pregnancy/birth as "a miracle" in front of you, you'd want to punch them in the face.
- "Little Pink Feet" by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. 4.5. Also on fertility so kind of like the former two "seeking care for your body as a woman should be it's own horror show" stories but combined for a new person. But this time with medical malpractice. And homemade macarons. Better to think about the macarons, yes.

Other stories with specific moments that made me pause, also in order of appearance and with ratings:
- "(Don't) Fear the Feeding Tube," 4. A pro-disability aids journey of accepting your body as it is despite internal abilism.
- "View from the Football Field; or, What Happens When the Game Is Over," 3. Reconciling a love of football with what it does to black bodies while in one.
- "Smother Me," 4. A view of BBW porn fetishes/kinks while stepping into power and refusing to be dehumanized.
- "Don't Let it Bury You," 3.5. Childhood SA and depression but (dance as) survival.
- "In Certain Contexts, Out of Certain Mouths," 4. Thirst traps in the pandemic but really trans/GNC naval gazing in the best way.
- "Cut Knuckles," 4. Where bulimia (& other EDs) is a terrible club, yes, but it's also a club that no one can ever really leave.
- "Papi Chulo Philosophics," 3.5. The double edged sword of being the one who "got out" of your upbringing.
- "Counting to Ten without Numbers," 3.5. Simply existing with dyscalcula.
- "Weathering Wyoming," 3.5. ED vs. the vast wilderness where the better wins but then is it a clean victory?
- "Women in the Fracklands," 3.5. The onmipresent threats in your indigenous female body at Standing Rock.

Additional Note: A few of the stories were clearly written in or taking place in the early COVID-19 pandemic ("In Certain Contexts...," "In Utero, in a Pandemic," and "It Doesn't Hurt, It Hurts All the Time" most apparently). Those felt timeless in the moment but I think that's only due to the universality of the pandemic experience as an adult. Maybe I'd feel different 10 years from now. Younger people 10 years from now definitely would.

[julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this anthology did come across (at times) a bit dated to me, with a fair amount of references to COVID-19, I think it still did an amazing job at showcasing various stories about disability, identity, discrimination, and self-image.

Favourites:
- The Crematorium
- Don't Fear the Feeding Tube
- Weathering Wyoming
- Attack of the Six Foot Woman
- To Swim is to Endure

However, my absolute favourite was "Counting to Ten without Numbers" which details the author's struggles with dyscalculia and identity surrounding 'invisible' disabilities. The level of description in this story had me completely enraptured, detailing an experience that was both moving and incredibly relatable.

[Angela]

What an excellent collection. This is my first experience to organically come into contact with first-person experiences of lockdown and how ppl responded to it. Not every essay is about it - maybe a handful deal with it directly and one or two reference it tangentially - but it made me realize how much of the pandemic I had either purposefully or indirectly blocked out that time period or just avoided it altogether. (It may be because it doesn’t feel like it’s ever “ended” to me, so reading about it seems jarring but that’s a reflection for myself on another day)

[Cat Rector]

Stopping this one at 80% because it's just too heavy for me at this point. It's a candid series of personal essays and each is heartfelt and deep. And as well, the contents are heavy, and my threshold has been met, so I'm moving to something to lift my heart a little, through no fault of the book. This is a good choice for readers who struggle with their bodies and identities, or even issues of infertility.

[Sage Αναστασία · Rating 5 out of 5]

Putting words to somatics is incredibly difficult, and the writers in Body Language took on the challenge with ease. I deeply appreciated hearing the various experiences and perspectives represented, both those that aligned with my own (that I'd never seen represented or been able to put words to) and those in realms I never could have imagined prior to reading. This might possibly be my favorite nonfiction book, and I'm so grateful to have read it.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. Like all short story collections, some hit differently. I liked the ones about football and funeral sex and the 50 foot woman best but learned a lot about different ways that people can feel uncomfortable in and with their bodies. I think it would be a more powerful collection with some positive experiences instead of all negative.

[Anna Muthalaly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine read, but nothing particularly new. I feel like the more innovative pieces were few and far between, but a nice easy collection to get someone out of a reading slump

[Corky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highs:
(Don't) Fear the Feeding of Tube
Don't Let It Bury You
Weathering Wyoming
To Swim Is To Endure

Some stories were really engaging (see above). Others were somehow both unusual and boring.

I expected more disabled voices in this collection, which was a bit disappointing.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

40% of these essays were great. The other 60%? meh…needs a tighter edit

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel the scope of this was perhaps a bit too wide -- it was difficult to find a thematic link between essays. There are about 5 standout essays but the rest are just ok.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with a few friends and we all loved it. This is such a unique collection and several of the pieces led us into thoughtful discussion. They’re all loosely tied together under the “body language” theme, but there is so much diversity of experience - transitioning genders, posing nude, eating disorders, infertility, deafness, cremation, chronic pain, racism in the medical system, dance, etc. So interesting! Recommend.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection. The stories were really wide-ranging -- from thirst traps to football to fertility treatments -- but the common thread of body and identity rang so clear throughout. Some of the stories shone much brighter than others, but the ones that fell flat were the exception, not the rule.

[S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

while a few of the essays in this collection are quite solid, i've otherwise grown very tired of published narratives centering the experiences of non-disabled, non-chronically ill people during the COVID pandemic. congrats, you have to think about your own mortality now. congrats, getting the right healthcare actually isn't that easy.

[Emma Ratshin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lovely, insightful essay collection on the topic of bodies. as someone who usually feels pretty disconnected from my body, it was illuminating to hear others talk about their own experience as physical beings in space. especially related to attack of the six foot woman lol (despite being a meager 5’9)

[June Freifelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the premise for this collection and as per all essay compilations, some essays hit differently and more memorably than other others. Ones that I will remember for a long time to come: "(Don't) Fear the Feeding Tube," "In Certain Contexts, Out of Certain Mouths," and "Counting to Ten Without Numbers."

[Lillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than one of these essays resonated deeply with me. I'd recommend for anyone who often feels lost in physical space or their own bodies, often because of trauma, or exterior commentary or litigation.
I'm really glad these authors found the right space and energy to tell their stories.

[Kiki Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

A captivating collection of essays from diverse writers. Easy to read, and a strong through line. I passed it on to a friend straight away with a warning that some of the selections could be activating for folks TTC.

[Laurel Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting to jump between narratives that I understood or resonated with in some way to ones that seemed entirely outside of my lived experience. Good exercise in seeing another's perspective.

[nicole♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!!!

I loved the theme of “Body Language” and the different stories and perspectives that this book has. I feel like I learned so much as well as felt so connected to these writers. It’s refreshing to see thru the lens of someone on a story rarely ever told! Very unique, well-written essays. It starts off strong with a story you just want to bawl at.

It’s a solid 5-star read but I only put it at 4.5 simply bc some essays Were a little convoluted and not as well written as others but only a handful! They all stuck to the respective theme for the most part.

Highly Recommend!!!!!

The essays I recommend the most if you don’t wanna read all of them are:

My favs
~ The Crematorium by Nina Riggs
~ Don’t Let It Bury You by Eloghosa Osunde
~ Writing My Truth as a Deaf Queer Writer by Ross Showalter
~ On the Camino de Santiago by Andrea Ruggirello
~ What I Did for the Chance to Have a Baby Someday by Karissa Chen
~ Little Pink Feet by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
~ Counting to Ten Without Numbers by Sarah McEachern
~ Weathering Wyoming by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
~ Teshima by Austin Gilkeson
~ To Swim Is to Endure by Melissa Hung
~ Connecting the Dots by Bassey Ikpi

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a self-proclaimed hater of non-fiction, I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. The essays are obviously hit-or-miss, but some were very very interesting. Only DNF’ed two or three I think.

[Miriam Cihodariu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy non-fiction essays by people who are otherwise authors of fiction a lot, bit weird for a person who largely prefers to learn things about the world through fiction rather than non-fiction. This collection is beautiful.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, deep collection of essays about bodies, minds, and how they fit together with themselves and with the world. I found it thought-provoking and reflective.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some excellent essays.

[Honi SK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, profound, expansive yet intimate essays by mostly minority authors. Super accessible

[Nicole Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection; a few stories stood out. Thoughtful reflections on what it means to have a body & move through the world carrying that weight.

[Jena Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*