How to Wrestle a Girl: Stories

by Venita Blackburn Narrated by Venita Blackburn, Jamie K. Brown, Angel Pean, Jamal Henderson, Tashi Thomas

Overview

"How to Wrestle a Girl is a work of stunning grace and rhythm. In these stories Venita Blackburn reminds us she is a writer unlike any other, her stories propelled by voice and wit and harsh beauty." --Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black

Hilarious, tough, and tender stories from a farseeing star on the rise

Venita Blackburn's characters bully and suffer, spit and tease, mope and blame. They're hyperaware of their bodies and fiercely observant, fending off the failures and advances of adults with indifferent ease. In “Biology Class,” they torment a teacher to the point of near insanity, while in “Bear Bear Harvest¿,” they prepare to sell their excess fat and skin for food processing. Stark and sharp, hilarious and ominous, these pieces are scabbed, bruised, and prone to scarring.

Many of the stories, set in Southern California, follow a teenage girl in the aftermath of her beloved father's death and capture her sister's and mother's encounters with men of all ages, as well as the girl's budding attraction to her best friend, Esperanza. In and out of school, participating in wrestling and softball, attending church with her hysterically complicated family, and dominating boys in arm wrestling, she grapples with her burgeoning queerness and her emerging body, becoming wary of clarity rather than hoping for it.

A rising star, Blackburn is a trailblazing stylist, and in How to Wrestle a Girl she masterfully shakes loose a vision of girlhood that is raw, vulnerable, and never at ease.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"A bold, witty, ominous and vulnerable second book of stories that is as resolute and original as its author . . . With detailed imagery, keen observation and an ability to subvert expectations, Blackburn commands the page in few words . . . How to Wrestle a Girl shines in its propensity to magnify small moments, challenge our presumptions and dissect the beauty, danger and wonder of girlhood." —Jared Jackson, The New York Times Book Review

"An acrobatic feat of form and function." —Vulture

"This collection of extremely short stories builds its power as it goes along; characters and themes begin to emerge in fugue-like variations. I love how Blackburn lets the rawness into her voice in a number of the stories, many of which push against gender norms and expectations of sexual desire." —Lauren Groff, Jezebel

"[Blackburn] vividly renders the vulnerability of girlhood on the margins, revealing the aches of that time in one's life when everything feels at once carefree and world-ending. The 30 stories here appear on the page like snapshots from an off-color Polaroid—dazzling and disorienting." —Michelle Hart, Oprah Daily

"Blackburn, a prolific, stylish short-story writer in great command of her medium, dexterously revels in the humor and horror of coming of age whilst weary of the ways of the world." —Jordan Taliha McDonald, Vulture

"Blackburn’s voice is so nimble, toggling cooly between narrators and forms; she is a writer obviously in control of her craft and playing with its limitations. Blackburn can also be quietly vicious, breaking your heart with such a clean blade of controlled style that you don’t realize it’s happened until you’ve reached the end." —Lauren Kane, The Paris Review (staff pick)

"The kids at the heart of Venita Blackburn’s new short story collection aren’t just mere mean girls — they’re the kind of teens filled with effortless bravado, the ones who frighten and awe any adult who dare to question them. How to Wrestle a Girl is a must-read for any grown-up girl." —K.W. Colyard, Bustle

"The stories here are by turns serious and funny, ribald and emotionally honest . . . Blackburn’s collection intimates the commonality of Black experience across generations and personalities. The stories give speech to private, queer aspects of the body." —Anite Felicelli, Alta

"The[se] characters confront grief, sexuality, and uncertainty often with humor that works to undercut the emotions and make the moments feel even more true." —Tyrese L. Coleman, Electric Literature

"The sometimes spare and fragmented nature of the narrative is so perfectly fitting for a book focused on blossoming queerness, growing bodies, the aftermath of a life—in other words, things that are about to emerge. There is a brilliance to framing this collection as a how-to guide, as it offers no easy answers. No, instead, Venita Blackburn insists on making us stay in this chaotic, beautiful liminal space a while longer." —Katie Yee, Lit Hub

"Composed with terrific energy and tremendous style." —Megan Milks, The Rumpus

"A series of fiercely observant stories." —The Millions

"These are stories about the chaos of bodies, from menstruation to athletics, from sex to movie makeup. . .With brash humor and inventive energy, Blackburn sets her stories 'on the edge of disorder' and sustains that tension throughout. Boldly styled and deeply original." —Kirkus

"Eclectic and satisfying . . . Written from a distinct point of view and certainly never dull, this collection will appeal to those who enjoy experimental fiction and firmly places Blackburn as a writer to watch." —Booklist

"Blackburn presents a variety of Black and queer voices in this provocative collection . . . many entries present well-wrought narratives of young women coming to terms with their bodies and sexuality . . . Blackburn clearly has plenty of talent." —Publishers Weekly

"How to Wrestle a Girl is a work of stunning grace and rhythm. In these stories Venita Blackburn reminds us she is a writer unlike any other, her stories propelled by voice and wit and harsh beauty." —Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black

"Venita Blackburn’s How to Wrestle a Girl is bold and inventive, moving between sharp realism and work that shifts the rules of form, the body, or the physical world, finding new ways to tell the stories of how girls are taught to be girls. Blackburn has the talent to put words to the things we thought existed just outside of language, but she also has the wise restraint to bring us just close enough to look directly at the things there aren’t words for and leave them unsaid." —Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections

“At some point while reading How to Wrestle a Girl, I stopped wondering how Venita Blackburn writes perfect story after perfect story. Just know that these stories are playful, funny, moving, strange, and above all: perfect.” —Rion Amilcar Scott, author of The World Doesn't Require You

"There’s a wild imagination at work in Venita Blackburn's brilliant stories, and a nimbleness of language that delivers unforgettable characters hell bent to tell it like it is." —Pamela Painter, author of Fabrications

Kirkus Reviews

2021-06-29
Short stories—many linked—about the fraught and fiery rituals of girl- and womanhood.

Blackburn’s second collection—following Black Jesus and Other Superheroes (2017)—is divided into two parts. In the first, stories that largely clock in at a handful of pages give us lightning-quick glimpses of familial and romantic relationships. The opening story investigates the link between growing up female and social media attention (“Fam”). A struggling couple visit a dog trainer thinking that the key to their problems lies in improving their dogs’ behavior (“Thirteen Porcelain Schnauzers”). A biology teacher and her female student have their relationship scrutinized (“Biology Class”). In the book’s second part, a clear narrative emerges over the course of the stories, as a series of disasters, minor and major, befalls a high school protagonist in Southern California. Her father dies unexpectedly of sleep apnea (“Fat”); her elbow is crushed by an errant softball pitch (“Grief Log”). Her mother goes off the rails, having an affair with a local pastor (“Black Communion”) and subsequently attempting suicide (“Ambien and Brown Liquor”). The protagonist must deal with her broken family, her domineering older sister, and her burgeoning romantic feelings for her best friend, Esperanza. Ultimately, these are stories about the chaos of bodies, from menstruation to athletics, from sex to movie makeup. Rather than tell an overarching narrative, each story acts as a fragment of a wildly patterned mosaic, and through accumulation, patterns come clear, if not exactly a single picture. This structural inventiveness mirrors the formally inventive stories. There are tales structured as crossword puzzles (“In the Counselor’s Waiting Room With No Wi-Fi”), as quizzes (“Quiz”), and as instructions, as in the title story. With brash humor and inventive energy, Blackburn sets her stories “on the edge of disorder” and sustains that tension throughout.

Boldly styled and deeply original.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173340467
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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