Brutalities

Reviews

"A brainy, elegant, erotic, brutal, funny, hypnotic achievement by an author obsessed with the far reaches of what it means to live in a body, and how some kinds of love look like violence while others can be medicine." — Melissa Febos

"Steines's insecurities and observations about her changing body... are acute and powerful. Her ability to write with such frankness and self-awareness lays her observations bare, even if what is behind these observations is tragic and complicated... Brutalities is an extraordinary debut. " — Monika Dziamka, Chicago Review of Books

"Steines manages to keep her reader close, writing with a rare crystalline precision as she explores her fixation with violence and with certain forms of traditional masculinity... What elevates Steines's book above the difficult, often extreme experiences she shares is her willingness to look honestly and objectively at her desires. " — Casey Schwartz, The New York Times Book Review

"From being dominatrix to a welder, Steines meticulously describes the emotional toll of these jobs, deftly leading readers through several different stages of her life and how they all have informed her relationship with her body. Ultimately, those who pick up the book will be prompted to contemplate their body in a way they may never have thought of before. " — Katie Tamola, Shondaland

"[A] striking debut…The beauty of Brutalities is that much of it is not inherently brutal. The narrative deftly threads a past of pain and a present of comfort together into a meaningful portrait of a life made cohesive by its own contradictions… Brutalities is driven by love and gratefulness just as much as the brutalities themselves—it’s filled to the brim with her hard-won affection for herself, for others, for life and living it." — Casey Epstein-Gross, Observer

"[O]ne of the book's many triumphs is how it never lets the reader get too comfortable... Steines writes with unrelenting clarity about visceral bodily experiences...But she writes with equal power about deeply tender things… In between the episodes of pain, Steines learns to let herself feel softness; with great skill and control, she makes the reader submit to the same trajectory." — Tajja Isen, The Atlantic