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Fruiting Bodies: Stories
Fruiting Bodies: Stories | Kathryn Harlan
4 posts | 4 read | 28 to read
In stories that beckon and haunt, Fruiting Bodies ranges confidently from the fantastical to the gothic to the uncanny as it follows characters--mostly queer, mostly women--on the precipice of change. Echoes of timeless myth and folklore reverberate through urgent narratives of discovery, appetite, and coming-of-age in a time of crisis.In "The Changeling," two young cousins wait in dread for a new family member to arrive, convinced that he may be a dangerous supernatural creature. In "Endangered Animals," Jane prepares to say goodbye to her almost-love while they road-trip across a country irrevocably altered by climate change. In "Take Only What Belongs to You," a queer woman struggles with the personal history of an author she idolized, while in "Fiddler, Fool, Pair," an anthropologist is drawn into a magical--and dangerous--gamble. In the title story, partners Agnes and Geb feast peacefully on the mushrooms that sprout from Agnes's body--until an unwanted male guest disturbs their cloistered home.Audacious, striking, and wholly original, Fruiting Bodies offers stories about knowledge in a world on the verge of collapse, knowledge that alternately empowers or devastates. Pulling beautifully, brazenly, from a variety of literary traditions, Kathryn Harlan firmly establishes herself as a thrilling new voice in fiction.
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Addison_Reads
Fruiting Bodies: Stories | Kathryn Harlan
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Pickpick

It is very rare that I find myself loving every short story in a collection but this collection spoke to my soul while reading it. 💚

The writing is superb and each story felt like a magical journey, whether into a fairytale setting or in a library with a character soul searching for answers, I loved them all.

I wish this had made the shortlist for #ToB23, but I'm thankful it was on the longlist or I might have missed out on it.

Reggie I love, love, loved this book! The one about the couple who goes to read the papers of the author she loved so much. And the one where the girl plays “poker” with the fae. 2d
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review
Reggie
Fruiting Bodies: Stories | Kathryn Harlan
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Pickpick

I felt like I was in a relationship with this book of 8 short stories. The last story is about a goodbye and ending of sorts while realizing there is still beauty in the world and I‘m crying because I felt like the book in the gentlest of ways also broke up with me. All of these stories had a female protagonist. Most if not all were lesbian. All were fantastic. Harlan really loves a fairytale mashup. Just so effing good. There is one about 👇🏼

Reggie a mother and daughter that would speak to every mother on Litsy and maybe the daughter they once were. There was a story about a girl who plays “poker” underneath a hill with the Fae that spoke to the casino worker in me when you realize what people will give up for a thrill. The titular story would knock your socks off. All the stars. Pick! 2mo
Chelsea.Poole Great review! That cover! 🤩 2mo
Addison_Reads I have this one on hold and now I really can't wait to read it. 2mo
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sarahbarnes I really loved Fiddler, Fool Pair as well. Agreed it‘s a great collection of stories - I‘m still thinking about them. 2mo
Megabooks I have to stack it now!! 🤩🤩 2mo
Centique This sounds AMAZING 😍 2mo
Reggie @Chelsea.Poole Thanks! Yeah, it‘s beautiful. 2mo
Reggie @Addison_Reads @Megabooks @Centique if you ladies read it and need to talk about a story please come comment here. I get revved up just thinking about these stories. 2mo
vivastory Have you seen the South Korean movie The Wailing? I just watched it. 2mo
Reggie @vivastory I have. I was lucky to watch it with a friend from South Korea who explained some of the stuff to me. Like the woman was an Angel and the guy with the diaper underwear was Japanese and a demon if I remember correctly. I remember that the little girl acted her *** off and he told me she won a children‘s acting award for it (edited) 2mo
Reggie I liked it. It was very intense 2mo
Reggie @vivastory also if you ever have the chance to see the S.Korean movie called The Chaser, that was crazy intense. 2mo
vivastory That's awesome that you were able to see it with someone from s. Korea. That would be a bit enlightening for sure. South Korean cinema is a special kind of intense & dark. I feel like I might need therapy now, lol. 2mo
vivastory I watched The Chaser years ago and recall liking it. If I recall it has an actor from I Saw the Devil, another favorite S Korean movie 2mo
Reggie @vivastory lol, yeah they‘re on a whole nuther level of dark. I haven‘t seen I Saw the Devil but it was on Shudder‘s top 100 moments so it got back on my radar. 2mo
Rissreads Sold! ♥️ 2mo
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blurb
Reggie
Fruiting Bodies: Stories | Kathryn Harlan
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This is how I feel just having read this short 28 page story. Esther and Cora are on their first vacation together as a couple and Cora is cool enough to let Esther spend 2 days at the Library of Congress looking through boxes of correspondence and works of her favorite gothic writer, Anais Casey. Harlan builds this universe by providing passages from some of Casey‘s books, letters to and from friends and family, end even passages from 👇🏼

Reggie some of her biographies. It made me think of you pemberlittens and some of you Littens who love a good author biography. But as we go further we see the obsession Esther has with Anais because her writing is the first to affirm the feelings she had as one who loves other women. But then Anais turned out to be married and and had kids. And you get this feeling of triangles being forced into circle shaped holes and you realize who cares as long👇🏼 2mo
Reggie what you read was the one thing you needed to read at that exact moment in your life. This story was so good. Mr. Hollywood, if you follow me please make this the next Lesbian romantic, tour de force, wins all the awards, movie. That is all. 2mo
vivastory The fact that both you & @sarahbarnes have good things to say about this author is making me stack this!! 2mo
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sarahbarnes This story was definitely my favorite from the collection. So good. It stirred up a lot of emotions for me as I was often doing this with the women writers I read in college - looking for affirmation of feelings I couldn‘t talk about with real people. @vivastory I‘ll be interested in your thoughts if you read it! 2mo
Reggie @sarahbarnes I work at a casino and the story right after this one got to me, the one about the girl playing “poker” with the fae. How people can easily give up something for a thrill. The one about the mother and daughter kinda shook me up. I could probably name all of them they were that good. @vivastory these are next to Laura Mauro and Marianna Enriquez for me. That good. I hope you read them. 2mo
sarahbarnes Yes to both of those! Also the one with the father and daughter looking for the snake! 2mo
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review
sarahbarnes
Fruiting Bodies: Stories | Kathryn Harlan
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Pickpick

I like short stories to surprise me, to be bizarre, unsettling glimpses into human nature. This collection delivered on that. As usual, I liked some stories in the collection better than others, but overall it was very good. My favorites are definitely Take Only What Belongs to You and Fiddler, Fool Pair. Didn‘t make the shortlist, along with many others I‘ve enjoyed. 🤷🏻‍♀️#ToB2023

SamAnne I love the title. 3mo
batsy Yes, great title and cover! Sounds really different and interesting based on your review. 3mo
Megabooks I was unsure about this, but I like many stories for the same reason. #stacked! 3mo
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squirrelbrain Great review! I was interested in this but, of course, it‘s not available over here. 3mo
Chelsea.Poole @batsy agree— love that cover. Not sure I‘ll make it around to this since it didn‘t make the shortlist. 3mo
Hooked_on_books I wasn‘t sure on this one, but it‘s available on Scribd, so since it‘s good, I‘ll give it a try! Great review! 3mo
Ruthiella Short stories are not my thing. I rarely remember them, unlike novels. 3mo
32 likes3 stack adds7 comments