In 1993 in a college town in Iowa, Paul is a grad student. Let's get this out of the way right away: Paul is also a shape-shifter. He doesn't know why or how, and he doesn't know (but really wants to know) whether he's the only one or there are others like him, bu he's always been able to change his body - he can give himself bigger muscles or get taller or shorter just by thinking about it, and he can also change his gender. In the opening pages, for example, Paul has decided he wants to know what sex is like for girls, so he borrows some clothes and concentrates on changing his body, and sets out for a dyke concert in a local bar. When he's not experimenting with gender and sex, Paul takes his classes and works at a thrift store and tends bar at the only gay bar in town. He hangs out with his friend, Jane, as he continuously questions his identity and purpose, not so differently than most college students. Paul's experiments and quest for answers take him to a female-only music festival in Michigan, a lesbian-filled house in off-season Cape Cod, and finally to the thriving gay community in San Francisco. Mostly, though, Paul just wants to know who he is and to be in love. He's just not entirely sure what that will look like.
Paul's quest is one that any young person can relate to, even if his unique abilities set him apart - he just has more options than most people, which makes figuring out who he (or she) is even more difficult. As you might guess from the subject matter, the novel is sometimes quite graphic, both in language and sex scenes, but what surprised me was how warm and tender the story is. Though we have little in common, I really came to care about Paul and root for him to find both himself and true love. Being set in the 90's, music (especially punk) is also a strong theme in the book, with Paul's musical tastes and mixtapes being a constant backdrop to what is happening. As Paul criss-crosses the country, bits and pieces of his past are also revealed, so the reader slowly gets a picture of his family life and his childhood. The publisher chose to put some shocking one-word excerpts from reviews on the cover, like "deep," "hot," and "smut," but as the author pointed out at Booktopia, those are single words taken from comprehensive reviews, and I think the publisher did a disservice to the novel by trying to scandalize potential readers and boiling a complex narrative down to sex. Instead, the author has taken a unique premise - shape-shifting - to explore issues of gender fluidity and sexuality in a whole new way, and created a thoughtful, poignant coming-of-age story sprinkled with entertaining pop culture flourishes. I really enjoyed this singular novel.
337 pages, Vintage Books
Random House Audio
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Listen to a sample of the audio book here, excerpted from the part of the book where Paul and Jane go to the music festival in Michigan. I think it sounds great on audio, narrated by Dani Martineck.
You can purchase Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl from an independent
bookstore, either locally or online, here:
One marvelous Indie to try is Northshire Bookstore, which hosts Booktopia every May:
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you can order Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl from Book Depository, with
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Having Paul be a shape shifter is a great way to explore sexuality, love, and gender identity.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's really a very unique novel!
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