Weekend Guide: 10.22.2021
etched in acid and touched with grace
The cover of Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill is perfect - a woman in all white, on her elbows and knees, in what would best be described as a plank position. That’s it.
Vintage Contemporaries, at it again!
Is she working out? Have we caught her mid yoga 🧘♀️ pose? Did she just fall forward? Member of a cult?
Who knows. ❓
But it seems like a fitting introduction to this collection of short stories.
No frills. Confusing. Intriguing. Hook. Line. Sinker.
The Benno Friedman photo (above) is found on the first edition, as well as subsequent paperback releases. That’s a pretty strong indication that this photo is not only beautiful in its ambiguity, but that it’s critical to understanding this collection of shorts.
I haven’t figured out how or why - but I know it’s crucial.
Bad Behavior is made up of nine stories all set in or on the fringes of 1980’s Manhattan. Bright Lights, Big City adjacent. These are stories of desire, lust, longing and a lot of sex. Most (if not all) of the protagonists are aspiring writers - potentially the only auto-fiction call back for Gaitskill.
Each story involves the push-pull of a romantic encounter. They come in different shapes and sizes but at the root, these characters are using each other. The reader rarely encounters the pleasure, only the fallout.
There is a thread that weaves its way through each story - no one wins. No big a-ha! moment. No epiphany. Life just goes on. Characters get hurt and stay hurt.
I guess you could call that emotional realism.
I loved this book. Dark. Dirty. Illicit. Real. Etched in acid and touched with grace. Sign me up.
My least favorite of the nine stories, Secretary, is the basis for the 2002 James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal film of the same name.
The film explores the intense relationship between a dominant lawyer and his submissive secretary, who indulge in various types of BDSM activity such as erotic spanking and Petplay.
You know the vibes! The movie (I say this with peace and love) is also bad. But in the good bad way. Also, the ending of the film is a complete departure from the story — a tale as old as time!
Either way. Five stars for Bad Behavior. If you love behaving badly or if you love reading about people who behave badly, give it a go. Adults really are wild.
As always, I hope you find some time this weekend to read something you love.
Take some time for yourself. You are important. You are a good person. You are loved. Feed your head.