Dead Girls

- Dead Girls. Alice Bolin. Collection of essays covering a wide variety of topics (Noir stories, celebrities, life in L.A., the autobiographical essay genre, tales of witches and monsters) with which Bolin interrogates the American (USian) fascination with the figure of the Dead Girl as a totem to both revere and use to convenience. Subtitled “Essays on surviving an American obsession”, these fourteen pieces slowly metamorphose from literary criticism to personal attempts at explaining one’s conception of self and time. 

Bolin’s prose is a delight to read. Like the best essays, it is both critique and invitation to read (or watch) for oneself, slowly untangling a complex webs of associations —and from there, jumping to what certain books and movies and celebrities mean to Bolin herself as both writer and woman. At times a coming-of-age narrative (that questions the very nature of coming-of-age tales), at others a critique of deeply entrenched American obsessions (sexy but virginal girls, powerful men), Bolin’s essays ponder all subjects, from Joan Didion to Britney Spears, with admirable tenacity. 

As an essayist, she is also acutely aware of the limitations both of her totemic artists and of herself. As the book progresses, the narrative becomes increasingly aware of her own identity as a young white American woman, with all the good and bad it carries —the sometimes painful awareness of both privilege and barriers. 

It is hard to choose a favorite essay or section in the book, as all analyze certain repeating motifs (gender, place, identity, the act of narrating) to various effects. 

Very recommended.