Publishers Weekly
08/19/2024
This scattered collection from Clark (Penance) spans genres and styles with varying degrees of success. The narrator of the wry “Build a Body Like Mine” pitches a weight-loss method involving the use of tapeworms. Other strong entries include “The Problem Solver,” in which a woman named Julia tells her roommate Oscar that she’s been raped by a mutual acquaintance. Oscar confronts the rapist and beats him up, which doesn’t help Julia feel better and only sows confusion among their friends. In “Nightstalkers,” an aimless teen longs to drop out of high school and start a band with his friend, who he has a crush on. The highlight of the collection, “Extinction Event,” follows a botanist who’s sensitive to the pain of plants, which makes her agonize when she’s tasked with cultivating a plant that can solve the climate crisis only to see it stricken by a mysterious disease. When Clark hits on a fresh idea, her stories transport. Unfortunately, too many of these entries feel lifeless, including the title story, a muddled folktale set in an oppressive matriarchal society, where a man falls under the spell of a shape-shifting sea creature who encourages him to lure other men to her. Readers will find this a mixed bag. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Readers of horror and speculative fiction will thoroughly enjoy this fun collection of short stories . . . . The feminist themes and rich characters of She's Always Hungry will stick with readers long after they close the book.” — Booklist
"She's Always Hungry is a howlingly good collection by an author at the very height of her powers. By turns funny, repulsive, and tender, it is a collection that begs you to pick a favourite story and yet confounds you at every turn with its range and dexterity. Clark is a writer whose mastery of voice and genre is impossible not to envy." — Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea and Private Rites
"No one is writing like Eliza Clark." — Nicola Dinan, author of Bellies
"Totally wild." — Claire Kohda, author of Woman, Eating
“Here are eleven surreal, troubling and frankly gross little worlds. How I loved my time in them.” — Saba Sams, author of Send Nudes
“A delectable smörgåsbord of snack-sized weird, She’s Always Hungry is a meal for the most avant garde queens. I loved every story, licked the plate clean and left no crumbs.” — Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller
"Scary and satirical, Clark's debut collection is unsettling, repulsive and darkly hilarious." — Juno Dawson, bestselling author of Her Majesty's Royal Coven
"Visceral and transgressive, eerie and playful, sometimes depraved and often laugh-out-loud funny." — Colin Walsh, author of Kala
"I gobbled them up in one sitting." — Camilla Grudova, author of The Coiled Serpent
