8/11/20 HOUSE IS A BODY - SHRUTI SWAMY - ALGONQUIN BOOKS

 

Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books (August 11, 2020)

A Most-Anticipated Book of 2020 from The Millions * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Electric Literature

“Swamy’s A House Is a Body will not simply be talked about as one of the greatest short story collections of the 2020s; it will change the way all stories—short and long—are told, written, and consumed. There is nothing, no emotion, no tiny morsel of memory, no touch, that this book does not take seriously. Yet, A House Is a Body might be the most fun I’ve ever had in a short story collection.” —Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

Dreams collide with reality, modernity with antiquity, and myth with identity in the twelve arresting stories of A House Is a Body. In “Earthly Pleasures,” a young painter living alone in San Francisco begins a secret romance with one of India’s biggest celebrities, and desire and ego are laid bare. In “A Simple Composition,” a husband’s professional crisis leads to his wife’s discovery of a dark, ecstatic joy. And in the title story, an exhausted mother watches, hypnotized by fear, as a California wildfire approaches her home. Immersive and assured, provocative and probing, these are stories written with the edge and precision of a knife blade. Set in the United States and India, they reveal small but intense moments of beauty, pain, and power that contain the world.

A House Is a Body introduces a bold and original voice in fiction, from a writer at the start of a stellar career.

THOUGHTS/REVIEW:

Everyone, read this short story collection - I don't usually go for short stories in my read and this one really surprised me and I LOVED IT!! A HOUSE IS A BODY was a riveting collection of deep soul searching stories written in a prose so magical I was immersed into this debut. 

A collection of twelve stories spanning the globe set between the United States, India and beyond, with each story unique and touching upon important themes about family, parenthood, sisterhood and brotherhood, and most of all, love. With a dream like quality, and very unique style of writing which I loved and devoured, Swamy transported me through these stories into worlds and experiences both fantastic and mythologic, and reality as well. 

The stories were very well written and very poignant. Though this could be read in one sitting, I enjoyed the stories individually taking the time to savor and reflect first, then moving on to the next story. Just like a box of chocolates, each had its own unique flavor and I just never know what I will be getting next, but they were all oh so good.  

I highly recommend this amazing short story collection. I am excited to see how you will savor this highly anticipated collection. 

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

The winner of two O. Henry Awards, Shruti Swamy's work has appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. In 2012, she was Vassar College's 50th W.K. Rose Fellow, and has been awarded residencies at the Millay Colony for the Arts, Blue Mountain Center, and Hedgebrook. She is a Kundiman fiction fellow, a 2017 – 2018 Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University, and a recipient of a 2018 grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation. She lives in San Francisco.