Customer Reviews

Typical Girls: New Stories by Smart Women

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Corrigan has chosen a great selection of funky, post-punk rock writing. I especially loved the alt rock metaphor from Kristen Hersch and Emily Perkins woeful tale of weight problems and friendlessness. A ripping good read - perfect for a bus journey to a new city.

This obviously isn't your typical book of short stories by hip women. Typical Girls has short stories written by Guinevere Turner (actress in Go Fish), Poppy Z. Brite (the goth girl's Anne Rice), and Kristin Hirsh (former Throwing Muses singer). So get ready for stories with a rock-n-roll feminist touch.(...)

Susan Corrigan (ed.), Typical Girls: New Stories by Smart Women (St. Martin's, 1997)

Here we have all the hard evidence we need that no matter how smart people may be, that doesn't mean they can write good stories.

I picked this one up because it contained a story by Poppy Z. Brite. (It's "Saved," her collaboration with Christa Faust, which you can also find in the infinitely superior collection Are You Loathsome Tonight?.) That one is, of course, excellent. A few of the others in here are also worth your time. The rest of them are either harping on the same subjects you expect or simply quite badly written. In other words, every story here is loaded with potential, and most of them don't realize it. The collection's better authors are too stuck in their one-trick pony mode to turn out a decent story, the bad authors have fantastic ideas and don't have the wherewithal to realize them. (One almost thinks this should have been a book of collaborations a la Brite and Faust; when retread ideas meet bad writing, though, as in the case of Amy Lame's story, one wonders why it wasn't left on the cutting room floor.)

Pick it up for the Brite story if you're unfamiliar with her stuff and want to see if she's the kind of author you enjoy. Too much of the rest, though, isn't worth your time. **

I got to the second story in this anthology and stopped short (therefore should probably not be writing a review). The story "Saved" is probably one of the most unecessary pieces of writing I have ever read. How does a gun toting killer (male) brutally killing a transvestite in a hotel room relate in any way to the feminist zeitgeist??? It made me sick. The story "Story of Nick" is alright, better, but feels equally as meaningless. I don't know. I guess I recommend that one simply read the morning paper for such depressing accounts of modern female life. Only 50 cents.

well...i loved all the stories in this book, bar "tuberama"...but it left me with the question "why are all these brilliant writers letting themselves be put into the feminist pigeon hole? so ignore the introduction if you will, it'll only put you in a bad mood...the stories are great, it is irrelevant that the ed. puts the feminist hard word on in the beginning. ignore it...

stand out stories: 'saved' by Poppy Z. Brite & Christa Faust, 'having myself a time' by josie kimber amog the rest. good showcase of talented writers, who just happen to be very very smart women