Book
Paul takes the form of a mortal girl : a novel / Andrea Lawlor.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780986086991 (paperback)
- ISBN: 0986086991 (paperback)
- Physical Description: 354 pages ; 19 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: Chicago : Rescue Press, 2017.
- Copyright: ©2017.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Shapeshifting > Fiction. Gay culture > 20th century > Fiction. Lesbian culture > 20th century > Fiction. Riot grrrl movement > Fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kimberley Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimberley Public Library | F LAW (Text) | 35137001010965 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2017 November #1
Paul is a man of many talents: besides being a part-time bartender and a mediocre college student, he excels at "knowing when people were open to having sex, having sex, being gay." He also happens to be a shape-shifter, able to change his gender and appearance to varying degrees. Lawlor's debut novel follows Paul from mid-1990s Iowa City to Chicago, San Francisco, and beyond as he begins experimenting with his secret abilities. Unsure of his "real" identity or desires, Paul follows his whims, swinging from a wildly sexual Midwestern flaneur into half of a monogamous lesbian couple. Even as Paul drifts and changes, Lawlor knows his heart and character so completely that each new identity just expands on the Paul readers have always known, rather than feeling fractured or jarring. In the end, Paul begins to see the beauty of being many things at onceâsomething Lawlor understands, too. The novel plays beautifully with contradiction and genre: it's a coming-of-age fairy tale without the easy moral, a mix of comedy and tenderness and backroom sexual exploits. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews. - ForeWord Magazine Reviews : ForeWord Magazine Reviews 2017 - November/December
Lawlor's novel introduces hefty topics in a highly entertaining, fresh, and thought-provoking way.
With their debut, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, Andrea Lawlor delivers a hilarious, original, gender-fluid novel replete with 1990s cachet, sex, and queer identity. It's an entrance that accomplishes what few writers can, addressing self-discovery, connection, and acceptance in a raucous, inventive way.
Have you ever wished you could be the opposite sex, whenever you wanted? Meet Paul, a shape-shifting, gender-nonconforming college student whose motivating desire is to be as hot as possible, no matter what sex he chooses to be.
Paul is adrift. Minimally showing up for classes at a Midwest college, Paul spends much time hunting for sexcapades, free coffee, and food. With Paul's ability to consciously change appearance and gender, these interlope into as many subsets of queer culture, college life, and one night stands as are available, all while demonstrating their inexhaustible knowledge of riot grrrl music and running fashion commentary.
While providing all the aesthetic of mid-1990s queer culture, and satisfying all physical urges while morphing between man and woman, Paul's shallowness masks deep feelings of isolation and yearning to connect with someone.
Lawlor masterfully exhibits their knowledge of gender identity by creating fully realized LGBTQ characters and avoiding stereotypes. They slyly intersperse the narrative with short, Brothers Grimm-like fables and fairy tales that question the historical impact of gender identity that is passed down from generation to generation.
Even with Paul's snarky humor, the story makes a pointed case that desire, and being desired, are universal attributes, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. It subtly conveys Paul's isolation by refusing to make Paul choose a gender or an orientation, instead having him search for a reflection, a kinship that supersedes anatomy.
Gender-fluid and gender nonconforming literature is underexplored in general, but Lawlor's novel introduces hefty topics in a highly entertaining, fresh, and thought-provoking way. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is a new benchmark for gender-nonconforming literature that introduces the undeniable skill, talent, and originality of new voice in fiction.
© 2017 Foreword Magazine, Inc. All Rights Reserved. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2017 September #1
A magical, sexual, and hopeful debut novel about transcending boundaries of gender to pursue emotional connection.Lawlor (Position Papers, 2016) writes of Paul, a shape-shifter tending bar in a college town in the mid-1990s. Paul can change his gender and appearance at will and does so as he navigates in and out of various pockets of academia and queer culture. Paul is drawn to the act of attraction; he "relied on his ability to attract only the sorts of attention he desired," and he shifts his form as a way of constantly challenging himself to connect with more people. Paul wants access to as many circles and bodies as possible. Lawlor's prose is taut, self-aware, and carnal. As Paul tests his "own nascent malleability," the author explores appearance, attraction, sexuality, and identity. Paul's youthful exuberance and thirst for hookups are foils to his persistent feelings of isolation. The book is divided into several parts, most notably shifting when a visit to a Michigan Womyn's Music Festival leads Paul (as a woman) to both a great love, Diane, and a confrontation with his own reasons for seeking sex. "What was sex, but newness?" he asks himself. Eventually Paul has to decide on the level of intimacy he desires; specifically, who he wants to tell about his body. This suggests that intimacy is knowledge of an identity that transcends the corporeal form. Dispersed throughout the story are short chapters with the feel of legends, each fable hinting at issues of gender. In the final third of the novel, Paul moves to the Bay Area, tests the limits of his ability to hold a form, and does his most mature self-examination. This is groundbreaking, shape- and genre-shifting work from a daring writer; a fresh novel that elevates questions of sexual identity and intimacy. Copyright Kirkus 2017 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
