animal summer
owl-babies, queer mountain lions, and feral sisters
Hi everyone,
Since we’ve decided, as a society, that no actual work happens in August anymore, I had all these plans to spend the month bettering my life. I was going to clean out my closet! Find a workout class in my neighborhood! Write something new! Read a craft book for once! Learn how to use my air fryer! Instead, like everyone in LA, I got Covid, and for two weeks let the soft animal of my body love what it loves, which was, as it turned out, many, many episodes of Love Island.
Speaking of the soft animal of your body… My favorite books this month were all a little beastly.
Chouette by Claire Oshetsky— A woman cheats on her husband with her childhood best friend (a female owl) and subsequently gives birth to an owl-baby, a creature she loves fiercely. Metaphors abound as she struggles to raise her owl-baby in a world designed for babies who are more like dogs. I’ve never read anything like this — the only thing that comes close is Nightbitch, as far as commentary about the animal nature of motherhood goes, but I found this to be much more tender. My sister, the brilliant humor writer Miriam Jayaratna, recommended this book/author to me.
Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky — I was so sad when I finished Chouette that I immediately began the author’s most recent book. In this one, a young woman reckons with her role in the accidental death of her childhood best friend while being haunted by a demonic deer. Very upsetting! Very good! My heart is broken.
Open Throat by Henry Hoke — Told from the point of view of a queer mountain lion who lives in a drought-plagued Griffith Park, this wonderfully strange and poetic little novel examines the paradoxical loneliness of life in LA. Our large feline narrator understands the hikers but cannot speak back to them; he yearns to be part of a community, but inspires fear in everyone who sees him. That is, until a little girl takes him in as a pet. I really loved this and can’t stop thinking about it.
Bear by Julia Phillips — I’m not sure if I would have read this if I’d known the tragedy of where it was headed, but ultimately I’m glad I did, and I’m recommending it because it was so beautifully written and sometimes people like sad books (I do). Well, this one is REALLY sad! The specific sad thing that happens is my own personal nightmare so it really hit me hard, but I shan’t give it away. Anyway, two sisters on an island in the Pacific Northwest are caring for their dying mother and working grueling service jobs to get by when a bear starts showing up around their house, upending everything.
Worry by Alexandra Tanner — Two Jewish sisters with varying degrees of mental illness try living together in Brooklyn. They’re both desperate to be their own people yet also can’t bring themselves to differentiate, and somewhere along the way they adopt a three-legged dog and name her Amy Klobuchar. Emotional chaos ensues! I spent almost four years living with my own sisters in NYC (with a rescue dog, too), and while we were certainly nicer to each other than these two, there was definitely a moment or two that had me wincing in recognition. After all, what says animal more than the feral love between sisters?
In case you missed it, here are my favorite books from the first half of the year.