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When Mystical Creatures Attack!
When Mystical Creatures Attack! | Kathleen Founds
6 posts | 2 read | 14 to read
In When Mystical Creatures Attack!, Ms. Freedmans high school English class writes essays in which mystical creatures resolve the greatest sociopolitical problems of our time. Students include Janice Gibbs, a feral child with excessive eyeliner and an anti-authoritarian complex that would be interesting were it not so ill-informed, and Cody Splunk, an aspiring writer working on a time machine. Following a nervous breakdown, Ms. Freedman corresponds with Janice and Cody from an insane asylum run on the capitalist model of cognitive-behavioral therapy, where inmates practice water aerobics to rebuild their Psychiatric Credit Scores. The lives of Janice, Cody, and Ms. Freedman are revealed through in-class essays, letters, therapeutic journal exercises, an advice column, a reality show television transcript, a diary, and a Methodist womens fundraising cookbook. (Recipes include Dark Night of the Soul Food, Render Unto Caesar Salad, and Valley of the Shadow of Death by Chocolate Cake.) In Virtue of the Month, the ghost of Ms. Freedmans mother argues that suicide is not a choice. In The Un-Game, Janices chain-smoking nursing home charge composes a dirty limerick. In The Hall of Old-Testament Miracles, wax figures of Bible characters come to life, hungry for Codys flesh. Set against a South Texas landscape where cicadas hum and the air smells of taco stands and jasmine flowers, these stories range from laugh-out-loud funny to achingly poignant. This surreal, exuberant collection mines the dark recesses of the soul while illuminating the human heart.
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I know it's really long, but I couldn't pick just one part! I'm pretty sure if you read it all you'll agree. 😁

Paula3 Wow 👊☇ 6y
Bklover 👍 6y
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My in-laws are gone after their week long stay during which we survived a bball tournament, my 5 yr old fracturing her elbow, and my fil getting into an accident in our car. I should probably be doing work, but I've never been more happy to chill with some wine and a book!

Beckys_Books What a week. Definitely wine worthy! 6y
minkyb Wow, you deserve it! 6y
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Enjoying this slightly strange read so far!! 😁

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LindsayReads
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Among other formats (short story, essay, advice column, recipe, and more), it is an #epistolary novel in part as well. It is a wildly inventive and laugh-out-loud funny tale of a high school English teacher in her early/mid-20s having a nervous breakdown (ok, so that part hit a little close to home). I had so much fun reading this book a few years back...maybe it'll be my reread for this year's #ReadHarder. #ReadJanuary

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BooksIHeld
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#funfridayphoto I am loving this book! As silly as this cover looks, the entrails can be so hard hitting, emotional, and so poignant! It's also very creative and inventive. I can go from laughing my ass off to wanting to cry on the subway, all in one sitting! I cannot wait to read more of Kathleen founds' work! What an incredible, talented author!

First read for #hellooctober . Hoping I'll be more active on litsy this month, I miss posting!

BookishFeminist Thanks for reminding me this has been on my TBR 😀 glad you enjoyed it. It looks fun! 8y
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BooksIHeld
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A lovely friend & a great writer is creating a college course about how to write about illness (mental, physical, visible & invisible). She asked me for recommendations (film, poetry, fiction, visual art, essay) since I prominently write about being mentally ill. I have bipolar disorder & went through psychoses. So I ransacked my shelves & this is what came up tho It doesn't include zines. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

sandra888 have you heard of Bitter Medicine by Olivier Martini & Clem Martini? 8y
BooksIHeld @sandra888 I haven't but it looks really interesting and I'm sure it'll be a big help for my friend! Thank you! 8y
Trav This is fantastic. 8y
11 likes3 comments