Irrelevant Book Reviews — Little Tales of Misogyny
I went on holiday to visit my in-laws with the Partner and it was amazingly tranquil and lovely and bucolic and I was dying over all the quaintness. But we also went to a jumble sale and I picked up a few books and LITTLE TALES OF MISOGYNY was one of them.
Previously I admit I hadn’t heard of Patricia Highsmith but the cover and title of this particular book really snagged me. Plus it was only a pound, so how could I resist?
Overview
This book is a collection of bizarre vignettes, in which gendered topics like childrearing and gold digging and so forth are explored to their absolute absurd extremities. You won’t necessarily find a plot in each story, but there’s still plenty to take away from them.
What fired me up
The absurdly dark humor within each story was a highlight. It also managed to shine a light on the backwards ways in which we regard some of the functions of women in society, and also how the patriarchal world we live in hurts men, too.
I also do love a good short story collection because I find them easier to slip into when starting a book is difficult.
What fizzled
Perhaps it was because of my own ideas about what the book would be, but it took me awhile to ‘get’ these vignettes. I expected something a little more biting and less passive. Also the pointlessness of some of them wore on me. I get that as vignettes rather than standalone stories, they don’t necessarily need a plot, but I think I would have liked something more driven and less innocuous.
Verdict
A little research leads me to believe this isn’t necessarily Patricia’s best title. But it’s an interesting, thought-provoking read, with some laughs smuggled inside.
Want more of this book?
Originally published at ashandfeather.com on June 6, 2018.
