Real to Reel [Paperback]

Lidia Yuknavitch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2003

With an intelligence that scalds every pretense and surface, Lidia Yuknavitch's camera pans across subjects as varied as Keanu Reeves and Siberian prison laborers. She zooms in on drug addiction, crime, sex of all flavors, trauma, torture, rock and roll, and art, all the while revealing untried angles and alien shapes. She traces the inner lives of characters teetering on edges-death, birth, love, understanding-but never flinching at the spectacle of their violent descent. This collection represents a verbal cinematographer at her best as she captivates the reader with a prose style that is mesmerizing and fluid, deep and dangerous.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Each story is a gem that could not have been written by anybody but Lidia Yuknavitch."

—Review of Contemporary Fiction

"This is not a book for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. The skill of the writer is impressive and there can be no doubt concerning her formidable ability."

—The Compulsive Reader

Book Description

Short fictions that examine meaning through a cinematic lens.

With an intelligence that scalds every pretense and surface, Lidia Yuknavitch's camera pans across subjects as varied as Keanu Reeves and Siberian prison laborers. She zooms in on drug addiction, crime, sex of all flavors, trauma, torture, rock and roll, and art, all the while revealing untried angles and alien shapes. She traces the inner lives of characters teetering on edges-death, birth, love, understanding-but never flinching at the spectacle of their violent descent. This collection represents a verbal cinematographer at her best as she captivates the reader with a prose style that is mesmerizing and fluid, deep and dangerous.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: Fiction Collective 2; 1 edition (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573661074
• ISBN-13: 978-1573661072
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

LIDIA YUKNAVITCH IS THE AUTHOR of three works of short fiction: Her Other Mouths, Liberty's Excess, and Real to Reel, as well as a book of literary criticism, Allegories of Violence. Her work has appeared in Ms., The Iowa Review, Exquisite Corpse, Another Chicago Magazine, Fiction International, Zyzzyva, and elsewhere. Her book Real to Reel was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award and she is the recipient of awards and fellowships from Poets and Writers and Literary Arts, Inc. Her work appears in the anthologies Life As We Show It (City Lights), Forms At War (FC2), Wreckage of Reason (Spuytin Duyvil). She teaches writing, literature, film, and Women's Studies in Oregon. Her first novel is forthcoming from Hawthorne Books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously Cool, January 10, 2006

By 

Want to Use My Mind "Belle" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real to Reel (Paperback)

Man, I don't find many women writers today critiquing culture with such finesse or courage--at the same time there is humor and artfulness and irony and beauty. The stories all take the reader to a place they either have never been, or try very hard not to think about, which is what books COULD be doing today but mostly don't.

I bought all of her books and they kicked my ass. Truly a joy to find.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blown Away, May 10, 2003

By 

"microedu" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real to Reel (Paperback)

I'm no sure what hits me most... not being a big fan of reading and all... but I was totally blown away by the language in Yuknavitch's book. I know that some critics can't think through three different voices on the same page, but I can, and I was amazed. Besides formalistic innovative moves, Yuknavitch was able to capture the esence of sex, violence, betraytal and love... love in sense of her man, her friends, her child not yet born... all of which are things I can relate to. I would suggest this book to everyone, whatever line of work you come from. There's something in it for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We're watching ourselves, but can't see, March 15, 2004

By 

Thomas (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real to Reel (Paperback)

The mindset of this author, as she panned across the realm of "so-called reality," was right on target. Looking at various instances, being seen as a production rather than a reality, is quite moving. She explores the question, "who are we?" Early on she mentions that we are cartoon versions of ourseleves. We create whatever we want. Life is merely a movie production in itself.
No matter what you read, if you do or not, this book has realizations that you have never explored this deeply. The author lets us know that we can be who we want, not literally, well almost. You start to analyze the way you present your- self to, for instance, a stranger, compared to how you act in front of a close friend. A person can perceive him or herself anyway that seems appropriate. They can also project an image that may not be consistent with their normal life. This is playing a part, merely acting within reality.
Within the book you get several perspectives, different eyes guide you through a world you may or may not recognize. No matter who you are, there is something to take from what has been written. The author pushes the question of why we do the things we do. Why do we submit to this, "order inside of chaos?"
In one of the chapters, a short entry titled "Phosphorescence," there is a line that reads, "She does not know what day it is and she knows what day it is precisely." This is an example of the author showing us what we need to look at life from different angles. Things aren't always as they seem. How we see it, isn't really how it is. Speculation cannot be grounded.
Overall, this book was a great read, excellent use of language. Her raw descriptions brought these ideas to a whole new level. The manner in which she tackled relations, love, sex, hate, drama, art, death, etc. was somewhat of an eye-opener As a reader, I could relate, and by the end I too was feeling her when she said that there is, "no distance between blindness and insight."