FABClub (Female Authors Book Club) discussion

If I've counted correctly, this is Margaret Atwood's third collection of short stories.

I love short story fiction. Since I can only sit and read in short burst, it fits well with me, I think.

Though I really enjoyed the entire book, my favorites from Wilderness Tips were:
True Trash
Age of Lead
The Bog Man
Uncles

Just got a copy of this. I'm slow but trying to cover more Atwood!

I liked Hairball

This contains 10 short stories:
True Trash (the longest at 30 pages)
Hairball
Isis in Darkness
The Bog Man
Death by Landscape
Uncles
The Age of Lead
Weight (the shortest at 16 pages)
Wilderness Tips
Hack Wednesday

"True Trash" is such an interesting story; at first the points-of-view seem to be all over the place, and the storyline seemed to be all over the place - and then it all comes together into this wonderful zinger of a tale!

"Hairball" - this was a really hard story to read. I can't decide if it's disgusting, hilarious, or sad.

"Isis in Darkness" - about attempts to pay homage to the muse in the midst of the mundane world.

"The Bog Man" - getting mired in the swamp of human relationships.

"Death by Landscape" - this one I loved! It was so spookily beautiful. (And isn't it cool the way she can take the same setting and turn it into something completely different!)

"Uncles" - the lessons of second-class citizenship are well indoctrinated.

"The Age of Lead" - death as a consequence of unknown actions.

"Weight" - This is heavy, but I really liked it - perhaps I just like my points clearly made. (And the redefinitions game was fun!)

Alexa wrote: ""Hairball" - this was a really hard story to read. I can't decide if it's disgusting, hilarious, or sad."

This was definitely good & creepy. I knew someone who had a 'hairball' removed. Eek!

What do you think it symbolized?

Alexa wrote: ""True Trash" is such an interesting story; at first the points-of-view seem to be all over the place, and the storyline seemed to be all over the place - and then it all comes together into this wo..."

I enjoyed this one. I had a babysitter who read 'true trash' mags and I remember reading them secretly. A real thrill.

Storyheart wrote: "I enjoyed this one. I had a babysitter who read 'true trash' mags and I remember reading them secretly. A real thrill."

Oh, the things we find when we're kids. I have the clearest memory, at about 10-11 years old, of idly picking up my mother's "Cosmopolitan" magazine just because something on the cover had caught my eye. My mother snatched it away, with such horror, saying "Don't read THAT!" that I instantly knew there must be some truly wonderful forbidden stuff inside! And so I then managed to read every issue she brought home for years and years!

"Wilderness Tips" - another story about trying to navigate the treacherous wilderness of human relationships - is that the theme of this book? I really liked this one, for some reason I just instantly connected with this set of characters.

"Hack Wednesday" - and this one made me want to cry!

Storyheart wrote: "This was definitely good & creepy. I knew someone who had a 'hairball' removed. Eek!

What do you think it symbolized?"

Yikes, I have no idea! I'm always torn in my mind between whether stories like this are simply meant to be read at face value or whether we're meant to see deeper meaning in them.

The death of a poisoned relationship?
The embodiment of betrayal?
Giving birth to treachery?
You reap what you sow?

I find it interesting, now that I've finished this, that it just feels so heavy to me - there's a lot of misery and betrayal in here - yet most of the individual stories I really liked! Some things are best in small doses?

My absolute favorite was "Death by Landscape," followed by "True Trash," and then "Hack Wednesday."

I just finished Death by Landscape and liked it very much. But you're right. So far, lots of sadness and misery and not so much of her trademark dark humour.

Alexa"Yikes, I have no idea! I'm always torn in my mind between whether stories like this are simply meant to be read at face value or whether we're meant to see deeper meaning in them.

The death of a poisoned relationship?
The embodiment of betrayal?
Giving birth to treachery?
You reap what you sow? "

All of those seem like good guesses. I was wondering about something like the death of the different kind of person she could have been--sort of a death of her better self, maybe.

Storyheart wrote: "...I was wondering about something like the death of the different kind of person she could have been--sort of a death of her better self, maybe."

Hmmm, interesting. Thereby giving her all of the agency in this story, which I now realize I wasn't doing.