Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Sub Rosa (edition 2010)by Amber Dawn
Work InformationSub Rosa by Amber Dawn
Top Five Books of 2020 (283) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Vancouver writer Amber Dawn’s Sub Rosa, published in 2010 by the radical and remarkable publishing house Arsenal Pulp Press, is a fantasy novel that is both familiar and fantastic. It deals with (what should be) a recognized reality in its depiction of gutsy, gritty, strong women doing sex work in Vancouver’s East end. But Dawn—a writer gutsy, gritty, and strong like her characters—has imagined a world that is a glittery yet tough fable twist on the story of a teenage runaway turned sex worker... Check out the rest of my review here: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/hello-world/ (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.) For the record, I want it noted that I wanted very much to like Amber Dawn's Sub Rosa; it not only comes recommended by my old '90s writing buddy Michelle Tea, but Daniel Casey even asked to re-run my resulting write-up at his Gently Read Literature, a great litmag that I love having the chance to support. Ah, but then I actually read the book, and realized that it's an only so-so academic/transgressive radical-feminist fairytale, much in the style of Kathy Acker or Lynn Breedlove but not with any of their verve, wit or exuberance for life. Although I wouldn't call it actively bad, I unfortunately find myself with not much to say after reading it besides, "Oh, ho-hum, another one of those books, I see;" and that's a shame, given its pedigree and people's interest. It comes just slightly recommended today. Out of 10: 7.1 no reviews | add a review
Awards
Welcome to Sub Rosa: not for the faint of heart. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
But beware: there's a desperation to this delight, as in Tea's novels, as in Vollmann's. Sub Rosa is a fantasy about what happens to "all the beautiful lost children" (235), of whatever age, who go missing, never to be found. They're not dead or exploited, they're joyfully in Sub Rosa with only the looming Dark to remind them of what could be. I loved reading this, hated for it to end, but it gave me nightmares that had me waking up my dogs. ( )