In the dream house : a memoir

Title:

Author:

Summary:

The author's engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming.

Physical Description:

247 pages ; 24 cm

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Personal Subject:

Machado, Carmen Maria.

Subject Term:

Women authors, American -- 21st century -- Biography.

Abused women -- Biography.

Lesbians -- Biography.

Publisher:

Graywolf Press,

Publication Date:

2019

ISBN:

9781644450031

Publication Information:

Minneapolis, Minnesota : Graywolf Press, 2019.

Call Number:

928 MACHADO

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003446401	Adult Nonfiction	928 MACHADO	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse by the award-winning author of Her Body and Other Parties

In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado's engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming.

And it's that struggle that gives the book its original structure: each chapter is driven by its own narrative trope--the haunted house, erotica, the bildungsroman--through which Machado holds the events up to the light and examines them from different angles. She looks back at her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships.

Machado's dire narrative is leavened with her characteristic wit, playfulness, and openness to inquiry. She casts a critical eye over legal proceedings, fairy tales, Star Trek , and Disney villains, as well as iconic works of film and fiction. The result is a wrenching, riveting book that explodes our ideas about what a memoir can do and be.

Author Notes

Carmen Maria Machado is the author of Her Body and Other Parties , which was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize. She lives in Philadelphia with her wife.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this haunting memoir, National Book Award--finalist Machado (Her Body and Other Parties) discusses the mental and physical abuse she was subjected to by her girlfriend. The book is divided into short, piercing chapters, in which Machado refers to the victimized version of herself as "you." ("I thought you died, but writing this, I'm not sure you did.") Machado discusses meeting the girlfriend (her first) in Iowa City, where Machado was getting her MFA. She masterfully, slowly introduces unease and dread as the relationship unfolds. The girlfriend turns threatening if Machado doesn't immediately return her calls, starts pointless fights, and inflicts physical discomfort on Machado (squeezing her arm for no reason, for instance). The hostile environment turns utterly oppressive, yet Machado stays, becoming further disoriented by someone who inflicts harm one minute and declares her love the next. Machado interestingly weaves in cultural references (to movies like 1944's Gaslight and 1984's Carmen) as she considers portrayals of abuse. She points out that queer women endure abuse in their relationships just as heterosexual women do, and queer abusers shouldn't be protected: "We deserve to have our wrongdoing represented." The author eventually leaves her toxic relationship behind, but scars remain. Machado has written an affecting, chilling memoir about domestic abuse. (Nov.)

Library Journal Review

Experimenting with narrative form, Machado (Her Body and Other Parties) offers an emotional tour of the "Dream House," examining the history of an abusive queer relationship from multiple perspectives. In fragmented vignettes and short essays, Machado considers the "Dream House" as romance novel, noir, déjà vu, cautionary tale, and more (even delving into "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories) to engage with the literature on queer domestic abuse, positioning her account within the framework of lesbian experience. Machado's frequent use of second-person narration is especially harrowing, placing readers inside the Dream House as she recounts the events surrounding her relationship. In this open examination of abuse--how it starts, how it hides, how it tears at the victim's sense of self--Machado reimagines and plays with the memoir form, bridging the gap between reader and author in a way that is original and haunting. VERDICT A thought-provoking account for anyone interested in the experience of abuse survivors and lesbian narratives; trigger warning for descriptions of physical and emotional abuse. [See Prepub Alert, 4/1/19.]--Gricel Dominguez, Florida International Univ. Lib., Miami