LO C A L B O O KS
Rachel Yoder Nightbitch DOUBLEDAY
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think I need to open with an admission of guilt: I am not a parent. I have been a nanny, a preschool teacher, I’ve worked in youth housing—this is to say, I have helped to raise children of all ages, but I am not a parent. So while reading Nightbitch I found myself wondering, “What if all mothers turn into mythical creatures, a secret they keep from the rest of us?” I have always had this reverence for people whose bodies open up and brand new bodies come out. It makes sense to me that those bodies hold secrets. For those unfamiliar with the phenomenon Nightbitch has already borne (a movie deal before publication, even!), a quick synopsis: Artist turns stay-at-home mom transmogrifies into a dog as her identity fades into motherhood and away from self. It is obviously more than that. First and foremost it is weird. I read passages aloud to whoever was near me and for those outside the literary world, the response was, “So, this is the type of thing you read?” This struck me as one of those phrases people employ when they don’t know how to respond, like “interesting.” But Nightbitch is interesting. It is one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. For at least half of the book no characters have names, dialogue isn’t demarcated in any way, the mother is, significantly, only called “the mother.” No capitals, no fanfare—just “the mother.”
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She learns, though, that when something must be done, it can be done, and that she has more power inside herself than she realizes. Of course, she learns this as the Fishtastics are on a school trip to perform at Hancher Auditorium. Black Reinhardt’s loving illustrations of that local landmark make this book one that kids used to visiting there will surely cherish. But the universal themes, the Tess Weaver; ill. Jennifer gorgeous colors and the friendly Black Reinhardt characterizations make it a story Fishtastic! that all kids everywhere can enjoy. HANCHER AUDITORIUM/UNIVERSITY The tale itself is straightforward OF IOWA PRESS and accessible. Both Etta’s frustration and the loving support of ou may think you know her friends are palpable and comwhimsy, but unless you’re forting, each in their way. Etta’s already a fan of Jennifer Black sadness never veers into jealousy Reinhardt’s illustrations, you or resentment; her journey is her haven’t seen the half of it. The own challenge and she bears her Iowa City illustrator pulls out heavy emotions in ways that are all the stops for the visuals acuseful for children to explore. companying Iowa City author Special mention must be given Tess Weaver’s charming picture to the layout of the pages. The story and the OFFERING A PRAYER IN SOLIDARITY WITH OTHER pictures weave together with MOTHERS, AUTHOR RACHEL YODER ADDRESSES THE CULT a masterful OF MOTHERHOOD AND PRODUCTIVITY. use of space, and the visual storytelling is as compelling as the narrative. one way of being a god.” book tale of a theater school of Fishtastic! is perfectly paced and Fanciful and strange and sefishes. Inspired by the sculptures balanced. ductively violent (I want to give installed recently along the walkThe real star of the show, a content warning for one scene ways that patrons travers to reach though, without question, is Etta’s of violence against a domestic Hancher Auditorium, Fishtastic! pincushion hat. Attached with animal), it is unfair to say that joins the ranks of wonderful work a thin string tied in a bow, the Nightbitch is only about mothcommissioned or inspired by the simplicity, necessity, and deft diserhood, as not even motherhood theater, and seems poised to have tinctiveness make it the must-have is only about motherhood. just as wide a reach. accessory of the year. Honestly, I Nightbitch is about identity and Published in April, the story want one. It’s the only thing the aging and the meaning of life in a explores the question of what small fish wears, while her peers body. It is (as it accurately self-demakes magic and how we know are all bedecked in her extravascribes in a meta moment) about whether we have it or not. Etta, gantly designed costumes. It’s the “feral femininity.” the school’s costume designsort of precise detail that elevates What I liked best, though, was er, keeps desperately trying to a children’s book from cute to the absolute humanity in moments breathe air like her friends. She’s delightful. like this: “This must be what it never seen her designs sparkle in Pick this up for any 2- through means to be an animal, to look at the stage lights—and, more funda7-year-olds in your life, or any another and say, I am so much that mentally, she feels like she’s not fans of Hancher, or any fish aficioother thing that we are part of one “good enough,” since she lacks nados. It will become beloved. another. Here is my skin. Here is the one thing that sets her schoolyours.” mates apart from all the other fish —Sarah Elgatian in the sea. —Genevieve Trainor Part horror-confessional, part dadaist satire, Nightbitch is amazingly accessible. Offering a prayer in solidarity with other mothers, author Rachel Yoder addresses the cult of motherhood and productivity; of those perfect happy mothers who are impossibly put-together and also always involved in pyramid schemes; and the great isolation that comes from being a stay-at-home mom. Mothers aren’t allowed to be unhappy, to seek fulfillment outside of the home; the work they do “isn’t real work”; they couldn’t possibly be less than happy. “How could we possibly long for something beyond our offspring? … It’s almost as if having a child does not sate a deep yearning but instead compounds it,” the mother writes in an epistle. But it’s complicated. “At times she terrified herself, wondering if she was a god, if being a mother was
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