The visceral quality of the writing binds these stories together, sharing a taste for queasy horror and delighting in discomfort
Readers have been primed to expect unsoftened shocks and gleeful transgression from Eliza Clark. Her debut Boy Parts, a “BookTok” sensation, was a tale of degradation, gender and trauma, using a risk-taking photographer who demeans her young male subjects to distort the line between abuser and victim. Penance, her follow-up, was similarly no-holds-barred, exploring the ethics of fiction while revolving around a journalist and his subject: a group of teen girls who murdered a classmate.
Clark’s first story collection, She’s Always Hungry, offers smaller slices of punchy, funny, unapologetically perturbing fiction. True to its title, it deals with consumption in every sense, grappling with how capitalism, consumerism, food marketing and the beauty sphere feed into one another. The opening story, Build a Body Like Mine, tackles the topic of eating disorders sardonically in the style of an advertisement for a wondrous weight-loss hack.
Vaulting deftly between different genres, tones and universes, Clark has a sharp knack for parody. The sinister mystery of The Shadow of Little Chitaly unravels entirely through the medium of clipped, absurdist Just Eat reviews. Hollow Bones is a dizzying sci-fi in which a “thick vein” pulses in the ceiling of the spaceship where the protagonist is confined.
The visceral quality of Clark’s writing binds these stories together, sharing a taste for queasy horror and delighting in discomfort. Some are less full-bodied – in The Problem Solver, Clark’s unalleviated unsubtlety feels slightly on-the-nose, while Nightstalkers falls short of poignant, meaningful drama. An apocalyptic tendency looms over the collection, none more so than in the caustically wry The King: a flesh-eating being slyly disguised as a human greedily awaits doomsday.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Can power-hungry data centres help our green energy targets?The best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk
Read more »
Children are arriving to school hungry due to the cost-of-living crisisA growing number of children are arriving to school hungry due to the cost-of-living criss, a new...
Read more »
GAA previews: Goal-hungry Na Fianna bidding to book All-Ireland final placeFormidable Dublin champions face Galway kingpins Loughrea while experienced Slaughtneil will test first-time Munster winners Sarsfields in Sunday's first semi-final
Read more »
Letters to the Editor, December 13th: On queuing for food, rural Ireland and Christmas in DublinNo child should have to go hungry, particularly at this time of year
Read more »
Nikita Hand always believed she would win case against Conor McGregorThe MMA fighter was found liable of assaulting a woman who accused him of rape in a Dublin hotel six years ago - with a jury awarding her more than €240,000 in damages
Read more »
Claudia Buckley: 'Galway Will Always Be Home'Country music superstar Claudia Buckley shares her feelings about her connection to Galway while balancing her career between Galway and Northern Ireland.
Read more »