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Belletrist Book Club Pick
From Philip K. Dick Award finalist Elwin Cotman, an irresistibly unnerving collection of stories that explore the anxieties of living while Black—a high-wire act of literary-fantastical hybrid fiction.
A rural town finds itself under the authoritarian sway of a tree that punishes children. A pair of old friends navigate their fraught history as strange happenings escalate in a Mexican restaurant. A pair of narcissistic friends wreak havoc on an activist community. An aloof young man finds himself living through his lover’s memories. And a day of LARPing takes a cosmic turn.
In each of the seven stories in this collection, characters pursue their obsessions on paths to glory and destruction while around them their worlds twist and warp, oscillating between reality and impossibility. On display throughout is Cotman’s ability to reveal truths about the human experience—about friendship, love, betrayal, bitterness—through whimsy, horror, and fantasy. Elegiac in tone, imaginative and humorous in their execution, the character-driven stories in Weird Black Girls challenge, incite, and entertain.
From Philip K. Dick Award finalist Elwin Cotman, an irresistibly unnerving collection of stories that explore the anxieties of living while Black—a high-wire act of literary-fantastical hybrid fiction.
A rural town finds itself under the authoritarian sway of a tree that punishes children. A pair of old friends navigate their fraught history as strange happenings escalate in a Mexican restaurant. A pair of narcissistic friends wreak havoc on an activist community. An aloof young man finds himself living through his lover’s memories. And a day of LARPing takes a cosmic turn.
In each of the seven stories in this collection, characters pursue their obsessions on paths to glory and destruction while around them their worlds twist and warp, oscillating between reality and impossibility. On display throughout is Cotman’s ability to reveal truths about the human experience—about friendship, love, betrayal, bitterness—through whimsy, horror, and fantasy. Elegiac in tone, imaginative and humorous in their execution, the character-driven stories in Weird Black Girls challenge, incite, and entertain.
26 Reviews
3.0

lucyskydiver
Created 21 days agoShare
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“English is not my first language. Still, I usually read in English.
This one I found hard to follow. It was quite confusing. I don't know whether I didn't understand the book well enough (language & content) or I simply didn't like it.”

E.A. Noble
Created 28 days agoShare
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bunnymooreads
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“Thank you Netgalley for the digital advanced reader copy!
I am not usually one for short stories. I find that one or two stories are incredibly strong and the others fall short. I had the same problem here. The stories here invoke a lot of emotions in such a little time. Not every story hits the mark for me, but those that do really hit it. In my opinion, the first story was the strongest. I was hoping for more stories like that one.”

Apiphany
Created 2 months agoShare
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Rebecca
Created 3 months agoShare
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“As with all story collections, I liked some more than others. It was a good start - I really enjoyed the first story. There was one story I was super uninterested in towards the middle and it was very long. But then the next story I loved.
Certainly the through-line between all the stories is weirdness. I’m not typically a fan of speculative fiction, so the stories that went beyond some magical realism didn’t really keep my interest. That said, I can tell this was beautifully written by someone who loves Black people and loves “weird” story elements. So points for that.”
About Elwin Cotman
Elwin Cotman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the post-industrial landscape greatly influenced his love for myth and adventure. He is the author of three prior collections of speculative short stories: The Jack Daniels Sessions EP, Hard Times Blues, and Dance on Saturday, which was a finalist of the Philip K. Dick Award. Cotman holds a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA from Mills College.
Other books by Elwin Cotman
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