Customer Reviews

Girl Goddess: Nine Stories (Girl Goddess No. 9)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I look back now, and I realize that Girl Goddess #9 was a big part of my formative years. It was the first FLB book, and it still one of my favorites.

When I read the title story, I remember thinking, "Well,I like Sarah McLachlan, maybe I should give Tori Amos a try." (If you don't know how that story ended, well, know that I think nothing of driving ten hours to go to a Tori concert.) And, a year or so later, I re-read the story and thought, "Hey, I like Sarah and Tori, maybe I should try the Cocteau Twins." Thus began another addiction which annually saps me about fifty bucks.

I was going through major issues with a very dear friend as I read "Pixie and Pony," and for years now, those words have stayed with me: "Best friends? We are sisters." After my mother's injury, I struggled to reconcile the reality of her new self with the way she had once been. The story "La" was of enormous help.

GG#9 is every girl's diary. It is all of our fears and hopes and drems. It is everything we've questioned about life, our futures, our parents, our sexuality, and love. Each girl is perfectly unique, very mysterious, and yet completely familiar. Each of these girls is like a little facet of each other, and of ourselves.

Out of all of Francesca Lia Block's books, I think this is one of the best. Although I don't particularly like short stories in general, this book left me captivated. My favorite is Blue because it was so touching, and Ms.Block's writing style is so lyrical that it really brings out the sadness even more than imaginable.(it made me cry!) Anyway, the whole collection of short stories was great, and this is one book I'll be reading again and again.

the best book you can ever possibly read. its not trashy, not sappy, not phoney. and its not boring. the most realistic stories, yet told in a magical pixie-punk way. and they're not superficial. they are the whole raw truth of the world and feelings of the humans living in it. i could not put it down. my personal favorite story is blue. it purly touched my soul in a way no other story ever could or will. basically,to sum up my feelings about this book, the most wonderful book of stories in the world, as best i can, is to say that you feel for the characters. you move with the characters you become the characters. This book is pure magic.

Girl Goddess # 9 is a book by Francesca Lia Block. This book contains nine short stories about girls and how in every girl there is a goddess. They are all breathtakingly descriptive. It didn't take me long to finish this masterpiece!

I'm a huge fan of Block's writing style and this book was one that takes you into its world from the beginning and doesn't let you out until the last page has been read and you're left with the aftertaste of Block's stories.

The first story Tweetie Sweet Pea, is about being young and innocense. It's a great opener for this book. Blue was one of my personal favorites. When La looses her mother (her mother took her own life) she hides all her feelings in and has no friends. Until she meets an odd character from her closet who is blue.

Dragons in Manhattan is one of the best short stories I've read. It's about a girl with two mothers who are lovers and she goes on a search to find her father. Rave is narrated by a boy who talks of a highschool love named Rave.

Winnie and Cubby is about two highschool lovers one who a shocking secret revealed later in the story.

Other stories include Girl Goddess # 9, The Canyon, Pixie and Pony, and Orpheus.

This book is not to be missed!

In "Pixie and Pony" a seemingly trite, even shallow emotional need is shown to be an important part of a sensitive young person's life-- the need to call someone her best friend. That story is one of the less dramatic pieces in this collection, but it resonates the more you read it. And it's one of the most lyrically written stories in the bunch, which is high praise considering the lush profusion of sights, sounds and smells evoked in these pages. Those who have attempted Block's novels and found them too overwhelmingly whimsical might want to give these stories a shot-- in the shorter format, Block can scale down some of the name-dropping catalogs of cool and focus in on the emotions at the heart of her tales. The novella-length "Dragons in Manhattan" tackles some of the themes of the middle Weetzie Bat books, but with more directness and a somewhat brisker sense of humor, thanks to our heroine Tuck and her hilariously-titled dances. The title story gives probably the first evidence of a sense of irony from this author-- and it's refreshing to see some of her heroines' pretensions get popped, while leaving their self-respect intact and even heightened. "Blue" and "Rave" are the most devastating stories here; "Rave" concerns a doomed groupie and the narrator who loves her-- the epilogue is particularly rich in its evocation of the emotional aftershocks of his relationship with her. "Blue" is more hopeful, but also even more painful in its depiction of a cavernous loneliness-- it's one of the best short stories of our time. The final story "Orpheus" relates to the experiences of the twenties, bringing the collection to an ambiguous conclusion--though, judging from the autobiographical hints, everything comes out right in the end. Like the bulk of Block's output, this is already a staple of adolescent reading lists, but this is also on the short list of her books with the most appeal for a wider audience; it's probably the best single-volume introduction to this fertile imagination.

Block at her diamond vision, teenage rock star, sugar candy best. Her writing is adolescent - that is, it is contradictory, infuriating, sometimes mistaken, and splendidly beautiful. Have you forgotten the tragic glory of being a teenager? Read this book. Are you living with the tragic glory of a teenager, and from where you're standing does it look like meaningless rebellion and mess? Read this book before you give it to the brave, scared, brand-new adult in your house, and remember what it was like to be her.

i bought this book from amazon.com probably a year ago, and it really changed my life! i think every girl should read this! any female aged 13 and up will love these stories. words cannot even describe the wealth of emotions that will spew out of you while you read this book. it is one of those books you can read over and over again. Francesca Lia Block gives the reader nine stories that go in no particular order. Of course everyone will have their favorite stories but the ones that touched me the most were the ones about raven, the beautiful groupie; la, who tries to cope with life, aided by her friend blue; and tweety pie and her sister; tuck budd and her lesbian parents--heck, every story is my favorite....GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT BECAUSE IT IS ABSOLUETELY BRILLIANT! :)

Girl Goddess #9 is one of the best books out there for girls. I read it the first time about a year and half ago, and proceeded to read the rest of Francesca's cooks. I even did an author presentation on her. This is a book that is about girls from all walks of life, and it emphasizes the born-in divination each girl has because she is who she is. Block's writing style is beautiful; it's full of imagery and metaphors, written almost in poetic form. Her writing style is something that is almost musical; you could honestly feel and hear the beats in her words. I highly reccommend picking up her other books as well, and Girl Goddess #9 is a good introductory to her work. This is a feminist novel in the sense it embodies the power of a girl because of her individuality, but it does this without the need of destroying the male sex. It's a highly reflective short story compliation, and they are stories that any girl could live in. Block illustrates love, pain, and growth at its most honest form in her work.

The metaphorical and intimidating text of Block's Weetzie Bat series is an experience in itself. The story line which weaves itself through life in a fictional L.A. with a tangy, neon pink-type of twist, is thickly amusing. Block accomplishes again the telling of diverse perspectives of personalities in a style that is all her own. Girl Goddess #9 featres nine stories of girls; sisters, friends, daughters, girlfriends, freaks. And it is the freakish aspect of the mounting maturity from story to story, that makes every girl beautiful. Blue, the second story in the book, is about a young girl's imaginary friend that appears after her mother comitts suicide. Blue, the friend, is the girl coming to know her mother after she is dead. It is her mother's story that she needs to write in order for her to escape the trap she has been in. Blue shows her the way out. Rave, a story of a boy and his beautiful, totured friend, told my a man, is the most delicate of the stories.The slight surrealness and the surprising amount of identifiable aspects makes the story complex and admirable. It zig-zags on the parrell line of teenage life. It went right to heart. The way in which Block deals with the teenage years is not matched by any current writer. She lets us laugh at our identifiable qualities, while shying away from putting anyone in a catagory. Sex, drugs, lust, friendship, beauty, love, talent, and the woven bond in girls that stands invisable, yet overpowering. Everything about this book is an accomplishment.

Where was FLB when I was a tween or teenager?? Her books rock! I've read seven of them and I'm hooked. The kicker is that I'm not a teenager anymore, but rather a mama of a... girl. These books will make great gifts for other girls. Note that she writes about issues that real girls (and boys) deal with (rape, incest, drugs, abuse, etc) and doesn't offer the usual...la babysitters club.
Enjoy!