Indelicacy

A Novel

De: Amina Cain

Narrado por: Lauren Ezzo

Amina Cain's extraordinary fiction has been said to take place in "a strangely ageless world somewhere between Emily Dickinson and David Lynch" (Blake Butler), and this, her debut novel, is no exception. Indelicacy introduces us to a cleaning woman at an art museum who nurtures aspirations to do more than simply dust the paintings around her. She dreams of having the liberty to explore them in writing, and so must find a way to win herself the time and security to use her mind. She escapes her lot by marrying a rich man, but having gained a husband, a house, high society, and a maid, she finds that her new life of privilege is no less constrained. Not only has she taken up different forms of time-consuming labor - social and erotic - she is now, however passively, forcing other women to clean up after her. Perhaps another, more drastic solution is necessary.

Reminiscent of a lost Victorian classic in miniature, yet taking equal inspiration from such modern authors as Jean Rhys, Octavia Butler, Clarice Lispector, and Jean Genet, Amina Cain's Indelicacy is at once a ghost story without a ghost, a fable without a moral, and a down-to-earth investigation of the barriers faced by women in both life and literature. It is a novel about seeing, class, desire, anxiety, pleasure, friendship, and the battle to find one's true calling.

©2020 Amina Cain (P)2020 Tantor

couldn’t finish due to narrator

might be a good book, but this is quite possibly the most annoying narration i have ever encountered. what a bummer. i got as far as chapter 16 before i nearly tossed my sonos speaker out the window.

Strange

As the character - whose name we don’t learn until nearly the end - says “I am weird.” And she is. The reader’s voice is also strangely weird.
I ordered this book after reading a NYT review. Next time I’ll do more research - this was a wasted credit for only 3 hours of listening.

go paperback instead of audiobook

More desert than a meal, this book would have been a perfect literary companion for a sitting on a plane, or a beach, or a cozy afternoon off. I enjoyed it, but I don't think the audio served the reading experience. Read via paperback rather than audiobook!

Short but worth a credit

Sometimes we think we want something out of life.
Sometimes we find out that it wasn’t what we wanted after all.

Saying this is “an investigation of the barriers faced by women” unfairly minimizes the breadth of the book

Instead of settling, we need to be brave enough to acknowledge and embrace what makes us truly happy

I enjoyed this story as both a writer and a reader

I truly enjoyed this story on a drive in my car. The description was vivid and well done. The story was interesting, captivating, and complex. I think it would be better read first then listened 2. or listened two twice. you will not regret the repeat. The protagonist deserves a classroom discuss. She was crafted in such an intricate fashion she begs to be evaluated by multiple like minded voices.