Polvos raros

by Lynne Tillman

Una mujer joven va a la deriva por bares con luz tenue y habitaciones de alquiler e informa cual enviada especial desde las zonas erógenas de Nueva York y de Europa. Al toparse con situaciones sexuales cada vez más extrañas, dirige su mirada curiosa, cómica e incisiva hacia el mundo contemporáneo del sexo y el deseo.

Los hombres de este mundo escapan y fuerzan la sonrisa, cazan, se acicalan y se enamoran perdidamente. En los retratos socarrones de la narradora vemos a mujeres jóvenes entregándose a su libertad a través de la esperanza y la decepción, y a hombres jóvenes que se disfrazan con diversas formas de masculinidad.

Esta novela corta sorprende con polvos improbables, polvos perturbadores, polvos estrafalarios y algunos polvos rarísimos, todos ellos escritos con el estilo inteligente, elegante y rudo que solo podría ser de Lynne Tillman.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Womens, Novella, Novels

106 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Here’s an Author’s Bio. It could be written differently. I’ve written many for myself and read lots of other people’s. None is right or sufficient, each slants one way or the other. So, a kind of fiction – selection of events and facts.. So let me just say: I wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old. That I actually do write stories and novels and essays, and that they get published, still astonishes me.

My news is that my 6th novel MEN AND APPARITIONS will appear in march 2018 from Soft Skull Press. It's my first novel in 12 years.

Each spring, I teach writing at University at Albany, in the English Dept., and in the fall, at The New School, in the Writing Dept.

I’ve lived with David Hofstra, a bass player, for many years. It makes a lot of sense to me that I live with a bass player, since time and rhythm are extremely important to my writing. He’s also a wonderful man.

As time goes by, my thoughts about writing change, how to write THIS, or why I do. There are no stable answers to a process that changes, and a life that does too. Writing, when I’m inhabiting its world, makes me happy, or less unhappy. I also feel engaged in and caught up in politics here, and in worlds farther away.

When I work inside the world in which I do make choices, I'm completely absorbed in what happens, in what can emerge. Writing is a beautiful, difficult relationship with what you know and don’t know, have or haven’t experienced, with grammar and syntax, with words, primarily, with ideas, and with everything else that’s been written.

Reviews

[elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's interesting to read a contemporary (or what was considered contemporary) novella originally published in 1982, to see what is timeless about relationships and desire and what is not. there is a struggle of power and conflict that is so deeply intrinsic to the unnamed protagonist's life, and tillman portrays it so well and effortlessly. the writing was simple and sharp, and there were more than a few memorable quotes.

however, it just did not have the wow factor (?) (is that the right way to say it) that i expected. i was a bit disappointed at how superficial some of the writing was, how it was very pretty but did not really contribute to the greater meaning/picture of the book.

full review to come.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 - an easy afternoon read, definitely enjoyed it but it won’t change your life!

[daniella ❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

the title speaks for itself

[Dibz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has been out of publication for some time and it’s shocking to me that someone thought it was even worth publishing in the first place. This is, simply, the author’s shag list. Name, city, some background and memorable facts make up all the chapters. It’s dispassionate and cold, just as lists tend to be. This is something that really is just for the benefit of the author and I’m confused as to what anyone would get from reading it. Disappointingly, not one of the fucks is what I would consider to be weird.

I want to make it clear that I think Lynn Tillman has led an interesting enough life and met enough ‘characters’ to inspire a good novel. By what little I had to go off it seems she’s also an okay writer. As much as I didn’t like this book I’d like to read ‘Men and Other Apparitions’ by her and see what else she has to offer.

[Roos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aptly, this book is weird. It's very flippant but then quite surprisingly sincere at the end.

A fab quote from the near-end: "When I was fourteen I discovered that boys would fall in love with me if I listened to everything they said. A strong sense of integrity prohibited me from continuing this form of seduction. And, in addition to integrity, there was the problem of having to continue to listen to them." (pp. 104-105)

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Describing this as “weird fucks”… honey you wouldn’t last a day on Grindr 😭
—-
the cover is 96% of the reason i want to read this i will be honest

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well…that was £8.99 down the drain!
What a load of old shite! I hated the protagonist, well the bits I got to know about her, nothing about her was fleshed out enough, so I wasn’t rooting for her one bit. And as someone who is a self proclaimed “slag”, nothing about the sex this bitch was having was weird at all! Meeting someone and fucking them is not weird…ITS NORMAL LIFE!! Well for many anyway! So if it’s weird from an emotional point of view then okay fine, but the moments of getting fucked just felt flat over all, the “love making” in the last chapter felt the most real.
None of the chapters felt complete, so over edited that moments that were interesting and lifted the chapter were stripped down to 3 or 4 lines and ended with …
”then we fucked”
Sorry Lynne love, not for me on this occasion, however I will say that the cover is gorgeous.

[Holly Dolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more weirdness due to the title, but this novella tells a somewhat familiar story. I felt it fell a little flat and left me a bit disappointed - but I suppose that’s the irony of what this book is about. In summary, weird fucks is just okay, 3/5 stars.

[Jara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pufff ha sido como estar hablando con alguien que te considera amiga y no sabes cómo decirle que no

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sliver of ice-cool vignettes serving up a feminist rebuttal to Henry Miller’s peripatetic pornographic picaresques. Too slight and affected to slap too hard.

[Aidan Garemani · Rating 3 out of 5]

odd. wasn’t sure what to expect. not too feminist but i guess not everything has to be. didn’t understand the overarching connection. but still enjoyed nonetheless, fun writing style

[Bart Van Overmeire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that I'm an expert, but most of the fucks in this book didn't seem so weird to me. And I found the rest of the book disappointingly banal as well. Maybe I've become too cynical about life, that's possible as well. But as Tillman writes herself: 'Of course, no one makes friends that easily.' Same with books.

[Frida · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 ⭐️, a little extra for the cover.
Not one weird fuck was mentioned, only the underperformed and unmemorable ones.
Quite how things are these days; the story was contemporary then, and it still is very much contemporary now.

[Arno Vlierberghe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een zeldzaam boek waarbij titel aansluit op leeservaring.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voi että tää oli hieno. Tarkka, ilkikurinen, niin ihanan toteava ja silti kaiken rivien välissä kertova, reaktioiden ja yksityiskohtien kuvailun kautta näyttävä. Nautin valtavasti.

[abby (sumreader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

i did not like this at all…

[Tala🦈 (mrs.skywalker.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75, trochę zabrakło mi głębi, ale genialnie napisane i jak to się cudownie domknęło!

[Rimantė :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perskaičius pasitvirtino mintis, išreikšta ją įpusėjus - ši knyga pati susirado mane ir tokiomis pat aplinkybėmis, kurios aprašomos joje - keistomis. Nei aš ieškojau kažko tokio, nei norėjau, nei pirkau, bet dabar ji yra mano.

Jei kas klaustų apie ką ši knyga, tiesiog bakstelėčiau į knygos pavadinimą. Weird Fucks. Perfect name for this book. Juolab, kad anglų kalba perskaitytas knygas galiu suskaičiuoti ant rankos pirštų. Tai man primena, jog reikia skaityti daugiau knygų angliškai su žodynu po ranka. Suprasčiau daugiau.

Esmė ir truputis daugiau suprasta. It's all about weird fucks and one woman, whose had them. Šias trumpos, viena po kitos skaitomas istorijas apie seksualinius nuotykius, manytum jas turėtų gaubti erotiška atmosfera, bet jos nebuvo. Kalba gana paprasta, buitiška. Pagrindinė veikėja man atrodė abejinga viskam, vaikščiojanti pačiu krašteliu palei bedugnę, žlunganti arba visiškai žlugusi. Paskutiniai du puslapiai tai tik patvirtino.

Negaliu vertinti nei teigiamai, nei neigiamai. Nei patiko, nei nepatiko. Galbūt geriausias dalykas apie šias keistas istorijas yra susimąstymas ir liūdnokas atsidūsimas, kad "toks tas gyvenimas", o dar dažniau "jau tie vyrai...". Realistiškai pateikta moters-klajūnės jausena.

Kas man dar nepatiko, tai per stangrus knygos įrišimas, kai vos praslysta pirštai puslapiai šoka atgal, o jei dar skirtukas ne tarp jų... suerzina. Labai gražus kaligrafiškas pavadinimo užrašas ir visas knygos dizainas. Matosi, kad leidinys kokybiškas.

Viską sudėjus
4/5

[Stay Fetters · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There are lies in dreams."

I knew absolutely nothing about this book when I bought it. I saw the title and that was it. It was one of those books where I didn't even read the synopsis and I went into this completely blind. I think I enjoyed this more because I didn't know what to expect.

From the title, I thought we were getting a story about weird people doing weird things. But we actually get a young woman who travels from place to place living her life freely also while getting laid and falling in love along the way.

It was interesting for sure. I liked the writing style and it reminded me of reading something by Babitz. Weird Fucks was definitely weird and I really enjoyed it. A little sad that it wasn't weirder. I look forward to going on another journey with Lynne soon!

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absurd, pijnlijk en raar. De titel staat gelijk aan de leeservaring. Het sarcasme en de ‘I don’t give a fuck’-mentaliteit kon ik waarderen maar alles voelde verder plat aan. Wel een interesse kijk op de seksuele lusten van “de man”. Ze lijken allemaal verschillend maar ze hebben allemaal hetzelfde gemeen in dit boek: ze communiceren kut (of gewoon niet), zijn of worden allemaal verliefd op een andere vrouw en weten totaal niet wat ze willen op relationeel gebied.

[Alexandra Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will 1000% be reading again. Fully read this in like an hour - any woman who has ever had sex with a man can find themselves in these pages. Funny , relatable , to the point - all the right things

[Sam Bolton · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.75)...... so okay. I can't tell if my problem is the short story or the short stories that I keep reading. I'd hoped for searing eroticism or some terror or other, but it was simply unmemorable vignettes of forgettable men towards no purpose of any interest. Also none of the sex is that weird at all!!!!!!

[Clara · Rating 2 out of 5]

simplement no m’ha interessat gens

[Sunny C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouldn’t want to spend my Christmas Eve in any other way than reading about weird fucks

[Jente Smets · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1980, the book is a collection of short chapters retelling laconic accounts of an unnamed narrator’s sexual encounters in the 1960s and 1970s. I devoured this shag list within an hour.

I did not find the encounters peculiar or “weird”. Reflecting on the title of the book, I think the author is not referring to weird “fucks” in the sense of sexual encounters, but more so referring to the “weird fucks” she has had sexual encounters with. All the men she deals with do not want to connect on a deeper level than her vagina, they are full of sexual ability and emotional inability.

“A physicist once told me that one view of our universe is that its stability is an accident, that thousands upon thousands of relationships are unstable and that chance alone holds ours together.”

[Arcadia]

There are some excellent moments in this firecracker of a book. Here is my favourite:

"He undressed me in the doorway and fucked me. It went fast after so many weeks, like a branch breaking off a tree. The time had come. It was a snap."

Her use of language is snarky, no bullshit, like the world she builds. To me, her 'weird' fucks rest more on the detached attitude of the participants, or the floating nature of her life that bounces her from lover to lover, making her partners the different anchors in her strange life, more than the fucks themselves being weird.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic Tillman frolic brought back from the dead by a small press. Cool art too.

[Danielius Goriunovas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was weird. And there was loads of fucking. It left me feeling cynical, abused and sad - that was unusual from what I mostly read!

Oh, and great paper/design quality. This was superb.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

No weird fucks, just fucks.

[Andrea Batista · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fell a bit flat for me unfortunately…not a terrible book, just won’t change your life or leave any sort of impression. Shame!