I usually blog about topics relating to science fiction and/or fantasy but I ran across this one-of-a-kind, downright unclassifiable masterpiece of a novel over the weekend that just knocked my socks off (well, I wasn’t wearing socks at the time but you get the idea…) and I feel compelled to share my singularly magnificent reading experience with all of you. It’s Graham Rawle’s Woman's World, originally published in the UK in 2005 and recently released in the States by Counterpoint.
This 437-page novel is essentially a massive collage of nearly 40,000 fragments of text taken from miscellaneous women’s magazines published in the early 1960s. Assembling the fragments on the pages by hand with scissors and glue, it took Rawle five years to complete!
Woman’s World is the story of Norma Fontaine – the feminine alter ego of a cross-dressing man named Roy Little – who uses the idealized contents of women’s magazines to help cultivate not only her glamorous look but her decidedly twisted world view as well. Thus far in his 29-year existence, Roy, who lives with his mother Mary, has been able to keep Norma “homebound” – but when she escapes out into the world, comedic chaos (and not-so-subtle social commentary) ensues…
Here are a few examples of the novel’s tone:
“Occasionally, someone on the street will see me through the window, especially if I’m downstairs where it’s easier for passers-by to look in. I often provoke a second glance. I might be at the window sill, polishing some ornaments with Lux Liquid, or be up on my folding steps, giving the light bulbs a wipe with cotton wool soaked in milk. Each viewer receives an intimate portrait of a modern woman attending to her daily duties.”
“I had taken special care with my make-up. My lips were velvety roses scattered profusely on the white satin background of my face, and my eyes were deep, dark pools of mystery. To ensure that all matters of feminine hygiene had been properly addressed, I had pouffed my naturally shining and glorious hair with some of Mary’s Evening in Paris…”
And the genius of this novel isn’t just that it’s constructed like an epic ransom note from articles and advertisements from ‘60’s women’s magazines, it’s the absurdity of realizing that just a few decades ago, we lived in a society where women actually sought out and read magazines that pushed principles like: “housekeeping is after all the most thrilling work in the world” and whose archetypal woman was more concerned with buying the best detergent than keeping abreast of social, political and economic changes… “It’s the Blue-Whitener in Omo that makes the difference. It’s an active whitening ingredient that can actually get your clothes whiter than the day they were bought.”
Laugh-out-loud funny and boisterously entertaining, Graham Rawle’s Woman’s World is as much a genius work of art as it is a masterwork of a novel. In a word: Unforgettable. The inundation of ‘60’s terminology and jingles will make it virtually impossible for at least a few phrases to creep into your subconscious so don’t be surprised if, after reading this novel, you find yourself saying: “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.”
Also, a word of warning: after reading Woman’s World, some men may feel an irrational urge to try on a brassiere from Exquisite Form – “delicately pretty, White Nylon lace, with wide set straps and unique inner cup construction to provide special uplift” with accompanying girdle and nylon briefs, “daintily trimmed with white lace,” of course! (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
It sounds fun! The Guardian gave it a very good review. I think it would make an excellent Xmas present for one of my sons, whom we still tease about cross dressing in his sister's knickers when he was a lad
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