Completists' Club discussion

FICTION
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)
The Passion (1987)
Sexing the Cherry (1989)
Written on the Body (1992)
Art & Lies: A Piece for Three Voices and a Bawd (1994)
Art Objects (1995)
Gut Symmetries (1997)
The World and Other Places (1998)
The Powerbook (2000)
Lighthousekeeping (2004)
Weight (2005)
Tanglewreck (2006)
The Stone Gods (2007)
The Daylight Gate (2012)

NONFICTION
Art Objects

COMIC BOOK
Boating for Beginners

CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Tanglewreck
The King of Capri
The Battle of the Sun (2009)
The Lion, the Unicorn and Me: The Donkey's Christmas Story (2009)

SCREENPLAYS
Oranges are not the Only Fruit (BBC/TV)
Ingenious (2009)

MEMOIR
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (2011)

I read her first four novels, but nothing since. I would like to read her memoir next, and then read more of her novels.

Her memoir is really excellent.
I plan to reread it.

Jessica wrote: "Her memoir is really excellent.
I plan to reread it."

Do you mean "Why be happy...?", or the earlier, semi-autobiographical debut, "Oranges"? I think both are excellent, but the latest one has far more breadth, depth and insight. It makes sense to read them in quick succession, as I recently did.

Cecily wrote: "Do you mean "Why be happy...?", or the earlier, semi-autobiographical debut, "Oranges"? I think both are excellent, but the l..."

For me, the new one, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

I read Oranges are Not the Only Fruit shortly after Sexing the Cherry was released, which I read first. Time for some re-reading...

She classifies Oranges... as a novel, though obviously it is based on autobiographical material. I meant the new one.

Jessica wrote: "She classifies Oranges... as a novel..."
Perhaps in part because Mrs Winterson was still alive when it was published, and the editorial team may have been twitchy about possible legal action?

possibly, yes. and Jeanette W may have felt freer to write it as fiction.

Also, she wanted to be a novelist, so her first book more or less needed to be fiction, even if it was thinly veiled. One of the things I liked about "Why be happy?" was the way she explored the trajectory of and motives for her writing (my review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...).