--- product_id: 47090800 title: "Her Body and Other Parties: Stories" price: "€ 18.00" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/47090800-her-body-and-other-parties-stories store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # Her Body and Other Parties: Stories **Price:** € 18.00 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Her Body and Other Parties: Stories - **How much does it cost?** € 18.00 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/47090800-her-body-and-other-parties-stories) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction “[These stories] vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange.”―Roxane Gay “In these formally brilliant and emotionally charged tales, Machado gives literal shape to women’s memories and hunger and desire. I couldn’t put it down.”―Karen Russell In Her Body and Other Parties , Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella “Especially Heinous,” Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , a show we naïvely assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes. Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction. Review: wild ride about the human female condition - “You never live with a woman, you live inside her, I overheard my father say to my brother once.” Her Body and Other Parties is Carmen Maria Machado’s brilliant first book, a finalist for the 2017 National Book Awards. It’s a collection of dark beautiful sometimes supernatural stories about women. And if that alone that doesn’t get you, I don’t know what will. Machado’s prose is stunning and erotic, her themes sharp and femme, the style wildly different from one story to the next. In the hetero stories, I was felled by how limiting and cruel the world is to women. Machado nails it line after line: “Scoffing is the first mistake a woman can make.” “She’s like dough, how the give of it beneath kneading hands disguises its sturdiness, its potential.” “He is not a bad man, and that, I realize suddenly, is the root of my hurt.” I don’t usually read speculative fiction and so the potential of each story to veer off into scifi territory was a little startling. I got used to it, and more, I started looking forward to it. The first story in the book, “The Husband Stitch,” is a bang on introduction to Machado’s mash up brand of psychological and supernatural fiction. “Inventory” starts off as an inventory of lovers and veers into a story of a mysterious epidemic, the two themes of love and plague intertwined, and now that I think of it, isn’t one just a subset of the other? I found the story “Mothers” to be especially disturbing for its themes of bad motherhood and abuse - the latter describing a violent lesbian relationship. “Especially Heinous” takes 272 titles of Law and Order episodes in the SVU series and makes up plot summaries for each. I found this story the least compelling of the collection, its themes of violence and re-invention lost in the long and rambling structure. “Real Women Have Bodies” was one of my favourites - the story of a shop selling prom dresses amid another strange epidemic playing out a metaphor for the silencing of women. The writing at the beginning of this story was especially delicious. I would read catalogue after catalogue if Machado were writing the copy: “She looks like she’s battling a giant prom monster - all petticoat undersides and rhinestone tentacles.” The story “Eight Bites” is about one of the most destruction social conditions of femalehood - those prescribing body image and weight. “The Resident” is a foreboding story intertwining the group dynamics of an art residency and a children’s camp. And “Difficult at Parties” is about trauma, PTSD, and social anxiety with a underlayer of voyeurism. Machado is an assured storyteller, confident and knowing and piercing. I especially loved the sexiness and physicality of the stories. It was visceral and refreshing and unabashed: “I run slick.” But it’s her writing that takes the cake - it’s some of the best I’ve ever read and I would happily read anything else she takes on, no matter the genre or topic: “The smoke crawled out of her mouth one limb at a time; an animal.” Read Her Body and Other Parties. It’s a wild ride about the human female condition. Review: 4/5 - This collection of short stories heavily emphasizes the violence that we put on women’s bodies. Whether it be sexual violence, physical violence, violence put on us by society, or violence we put on ourselves. This entire collection is absolutely haunting in the best way possible. I won’t forget this collection, ever. And these are all so queer, and so feminist, and invoked so many emotions from me. Carmen Maria Machado is beyond words talented, and I feel so very blessed to even have been able to read this. I'm going to break down each short story with my thoughts, opinions, and individual star rating! ➽ THE HUSBAND STITCH - ★★★★★ This is my second time reading this, and it is just as powerful and hard hitting as it was the first time around. And I implore each and every one of you who is reading this review to do yourself a favor and read this short story. This story is very feminist and very sexually explicit, but so damn important. It's about the life of a woman, who gives everything to men and never is allowed to keep anything for herself. It's about life's expectations on women, and how society shapes the choices we do and do not have. It's about how, no matter what, giving everything will never be good enough as a woman. It's about enjoying and exploring your sexuality, yet trying to cope with the shame. It's about never fully being able to become the person you are, but becoming the person your husband and/or family require you to be. It's about having children, who will just repeat the same vicious and unfair cycle. This is my favorite short story of all time and it deserves all the stars that Goodreads and every other book rating site has to offer. ➽ INVENTORY - ★★★★ This is essentially an inventory list of all the sexual encounters this particular woman has had during her thirty years while her world escalates into chaos. I loved looking at this sexual exploration, journey, and acceptance. And it evoked such raw emotion from me. I just didn’t think it was as hard hitting as some of the others in the collection. Also, if you enjoyed this short story, please check out The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison! I honestly can’t recommend it enough, and both stories have a similar theme, feeling, and hauntingness to them. ➽ MOTHERS - ★★★ This is a very metaphorical story that starts out with a woman being given a baby by her female lover that they created unbeknownst to the narrator. And I use the word narrator very loosely, because this story is very unreliable. You will constantly be unsure of what is real and what is not, but you slowly get to see a story unfold. I also wholeheartedly believe that this story is very open for interpretation, and what I got from it could be, and probably is, something very different from what you were able to take from it. And that in and of itself is beyond words beautiful. ➽ ESPECIALLY HEINOUS - ★★ This is a retelling of each season and episode of Law & Order: SVU that dips into the realm of the paranormal, but because I have never seen that show (I know, I know) I don’t think I got that much enjoyment out of this one. I still thought it was so very smartly written, and it has that haunting feeling that I know associate with Carmen Maria Machado, but I just wasn’t as in love with this as I feel others will be. ➽ REAL WOMEN HAVE BODIES - ★★★★★ This story felt like a punch to the gut over and over and over. Words can be so powerful, and Carmen Maria Machado has perfected the craft of writing, I swear. Women in this world fade slowly and eventually become invisible. We get to see a dress shop, that puts youth and beautiful before all else, and a few of the workers are grasping to those values. Growing older, and feeling less valuable because of it, is a concept that many people in this world can’t deal with, without having to turn invisible. And I’m not going to lie to you and say that when I read that one of the characters of this book was twenty-nine that I didn’t try to suppress that visceral feeling that I don’t even have words for, but I wish so badly that I didn’t feel. ➽ EIGHT BITES - ★★★★★ First and foremost, this short story would be so very trigging for anyone who has battled any form of eating disorder before, so please use caution before reading this one. Food and body obsession is so very real, and people will go their entire lives never knowing peace with themselves because of it. This is a story about a woman who has struggled her entire life and has finally decided to get bariatric surgery. This story also heavily talks about how we pass these terrible feelings and values down to our daughters and other generations, over and over. ➽ THE RESIDENT - ★★★ Like most of the stories in this collection, this story felt really personal to read. Like, autobiographical personal. This is about a woman who goes up to the mountains, where she also spent some of her youth as a Girl Scout, to work on her novel among other artists. We slowly get to see the writer slowly comes undone by her past and her present, but also embraces and comes to terms with who she is and how she is. It’s a beautiful mixture that I think most humans will really resonate with. ➽ DIFFICULT AT PARTIES - ★★★★ This was probably the most raw feeling story for me, and it really left me feeling empty. This is about a woman dealing, coping, and trying to heal with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Between others trying to help her, to hoping her assailant is found, and trying to find some sort of peace within herself, she is using pornography as a healing mechanism. Again, this is going to really be hard for a lot of people to read, but it’s also going to hit home for so many readers that need stories like this. I really loved this collection, and I gave Her Body and Other Parties 4 stars overall, because out of a possible 40 stars (5 stars possible for each of the 8 stories) this collection accumulated 31 stars (77%). Please pick this up, this is such an important book for everyone to read, and I can’t recommend it enough. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #27,854 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #40 in LGBTQ+ Science Fiction (Books) #107 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.1 out of 5 stars 5,448 Reviews | ## Images ![Her Body and Other Parties: Stories - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91ZOrAgmdrL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ wild ride about the human female condition *by A***E on June 4, 2018* “You never live with a woman, you live inside her, I overheard my father say to my brother once.” Her Body and Other Parties is Carmen Maria Machado’s brilliant first book, a finalist for the 2017 National Book Awards. It’s a collection of dark beautiful sometimes supernatural stories about women. And if that alone that doesn’t get you, I don’t know what will. Machado’s prose is stunning and erotic, her themes sharp and femme, the style wildly different from one story to the next. In the hetero stories, I was felled by how limiting and cruel the world is to women. Machado nails it line after line: “Scoffing is the first mistake a woman can make.” “She’s like dough, how the give of it beneath kneading hands disguises its sturdiness, its potential.” “He is not a bad man, and that, I realize suddenly, is the root of my hurt.” I don’t usually read speculative fiction and so the potential of each story to veer off into scifi territory was a little startling. I got used to it, and more, I started looking forward to it. The first story in the book, “The Husband Stitch,” is a bang on introduction to Machado’s mash up brand of psychological and supernatural fiction. “Inventory” starts off as an inventory of lovers and veers into a story of a mysterious epidemic, the two themes of love and plague intertwined, and now that I think of it, isn’t one just a subset of the other? I found the story “Mothers” to be especially disturbing for its themes of bad motherhood and abuse - the latter describing a violent lesbian relationship. “Especially Heinous” takes 272 titles of Law and Order episodes in the SVU series and makes up plot summaries for each. I found this story the least compelling of the collection, its themes of violence and re-invention lost in the long and rambling structure. “Real Women Have Bodies” was one of my favourites - the story of a shop selling prom dresses amid another strange epidemic playing out a metaphor for the silencing of women. The writing at the beginning of this story was especially delicious. I would read catalogue after catalogue if Machado were writing the copy: “She looks like she’s battling a giant prom monster - all petticoat undersides and rhinestone tentacles.” The story “Eight Bites” is about one of the most destruction social conditions of femalehood - those prescribing body image and weight. “The Resident” is a foreboding story intertwining the group dynamics of an art residency and a children’s camp. And “Difficult at Parties” is about trauma, PTSD, and social anxiety with a underlayer of voyeurism. Machado is an assured storyteller, confident and knowing and piercing. I especially loved the sexiness and physicality of the stories. It was visceral and refreshing and unabashed: “I run slick.” But it’s her writing that takes the cake - it’s some of the best I’ve ever read and I would happily read anything else she takes on, no matter the genre or topic: “The smoke crawled out of her mouth one limb at a time; an animal.” Read Her Body and Other Parties. It’s a wild ride about the human female condition. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 *by M***) on November 27, 2017* This collection of short stories heavily emphasizes the violence that we put on women’s bodies. Whether it be sexual violence, physical violence, violence put on us by society, or violence we put on ourselves. This entire collection is absolutely haunting in the best way possible. I won’t forget this collection, ever. And these are all so queer, and so feminist, and invoked so many emotions from me. Carmen Maria Machado is beyond words talented, and I feel so very blessed to even have been able to read this. I'm going to break down each short story with my thoughts, opinions, and individual star rating! ➽ THE HUSBAND STITCH - ★★★★★ This is my second time reading this, and it is just as powerful and hard hitting as it was the first time around. And I implore each and every one of you who is reading this review to do yourself a favor and read this short story. This story is very feminist and very sexually explicit, but so damn important. It's about the life of a woman, who gives everything to men and never is allowed to keep anything for herself. It's about life's expectations on women, and how society shapes the choices we do and do not have. It's about how, no matter what, giving everything will never be good enough as a woman. It's about enjoying and exploring your sexuality, yet trying to cope with the shame. It's about never fully being able to become the person you are, but becoming the person your husband and/or family require you to be. It's about having children, who will just repeat the same vicious and unfair cycle. This is my favorite short story of all time and it deserves all the stars that Goodreads and every other book rating site has to offer. ➽ INVENTORY - ★★★★ This is essentially an inventory list of all the sexual encounters this particular woman has had during her thirty years while her world escalates into chaos. I loved looking at this sexual exploration, journey, and acceptance. And it evoked such raw emotion from me. I just didn’t think it was as hard hitting as some of the others in the collection. Also, if you enjoyed this short story, please check out The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison! I honestly can’t recommend it enough, and both stories have a similar theme, feeling, and hauntingness to them. ➽ MOTHERS - ★★★ This is a very metaphorical story that starts out with a woman being given a baby by her female lover that they created unbeknownst to the narrator. And I use the word narrator very loosely, because this story is very unreliable. You will constantly be unsure of what is real and what is not, but you slowly get to see a story unfold. I also wholeheartedly believe that this story is very open for interpretation, and what I got from it could be, and probably is, something very different from what you were able to take from it. And that in and of itself is beyond words beautiful. ➽ ESPECIALLY HEINOUS - ★★ This is a retelling of each season and episode of Law & Order: SVU that dips into the realm of the paranormal, but because I have never seen that show (I know, I know) I don’t think I got that much enjoyment out of this one. I still thought it was so very smartly written, and it has that haunting feeling that I know associate with Carmen Maria Machado, but I just wasn’t as in love with this as I feel others will be. ➽ REAL WOMEN HAVE BODIES - ★★★★★ This story felt like a punch to the gut over and over and over. Words can be so powerful, and Carmen Maria Machado has perfected the craft of writing, I swear. Women in this world fade slowly and eventually become invisible. We get to see a dress shop, that puts youth and beautiful before all else, and a few of the workers are grasping to those values. Growing older, and feeling less valuable because of it, is a concept that many people in this world can’t deal with, without having to turn invisible. And I’m not going to lie to you and say that when I read that one of the characters of this book was twenty-nine that I didn’t try to suppress that visceral feeling that I don’t even have words for, but I wish so badly that I didn’t feel. ➽ EIGHT BITES - ★★★★★ First and foremost, this short story would be so very trigging for anyone who has battled any form of eating disorder before, so please use caution before reading this one. Food and body obsession is so very real, and people will go their entire lives never knowing peace with themselves because of it. This is a story about a woman who has struggled her entire life and has finally decided to get bariatric surgery. This story also heavily talks about how we pass these terrible feelings and values down to our daughters and other generations, over and over. ➽ THE RESIDENT - ★★★ Like most of the stories in this collection, this story felt really personal to read. Like, autobiographical personal. This is about a woman who goes up to the mountains, where she also spent some of her youth as a Girl Scout, to work on her novel among other artists. We slowly get to see the writer slowly comes undone by her past and her present, but also embraces and comes to terms with who she is and how she is. It’s a beautiful mixture that I think most humans will really resonate with. ➽ DIFFICULT AT PARTIES - ★★★★ This was probably the most raw feeling story for me, and it really left me feeling empty. This is about a woman dealing, coping, and trying to heal with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Between others trying to help her, to hoping her assailant is found, and trying to find some sort of peace within herself, she is using pornography as a healing mechanism. Again, this is going to really be hard for a lot of people to read, but it’s also going to hit home for so many readers that need stories like this. I really loved this collection, and I gave Her Body and Other Parties 4 stars overall, because out of a possible 40 stars (5 stars possible for each of the 8 stories) this collection accumulated 31 stars (77%). Please pick this up, this is such an important book for everyone to read, and I can’t recommend it enough. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Wonderful and Engaging Debut *by A***R on November 8, 2017* Carmen Maria Machado’s debut short story collection “Her Body and Other Parties” is as eerie as it is vibrant. This collection of eight stories centers around the lives of women and the way that they engage with sexuality, queerness, and oppression. The first story of the collection, “The Husband Stitch”, is a new, uncanny twist on the classic story “The Green Ribbon”, only in Machado’s version all women have ribbons. Her character refuses to explain the ribbon to her husband, explaining multiple times that “I’m not hiding it. It’s just not yours”. Using the lives and circumstances of her characters to comment on our cultural moment Machado is unafraid to let them be human – to let them have sex and fantasies and insecurities and flaws, to make mistakes and not be ridiculed for what they desire. In “Especially Heinous”, a short story inspired by “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”, Machado stacks little blurbs on top of each other which effectively spans a city while remaining contained and intimate. It is an intensely effective way of pulling the reader into the familial and personal issue that Benson and Stabler find themselves facing. We see this throughout the stories as Machado uses classic horror craft moves to rope the reader in through her impressive, lyrical use of language and subtle perversion of the norm. She doesn’t fall into the same pitfalls of many horror writers in that it doesn’t take her long to dive into the thick of things. While King and his work tend to drag a bit in getting to the up close, interesting, and icky, Her Body does not have this issue. Carmen Maria Machado is an incredibly smart and talented writer, as this collection of short stories clearly and commendably presents. This debut will leave you on the edge of your seat and hungry for more. ## Frequently Bought Together - Her Body and Other Parties: Stories - I Who Have Never Known Men - The Vegetarian --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/47090800-her-body-and-other-parties-stories](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/47090800-her-body-and-other-parties-stories) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-09-10*