Mary Russo (1)

Russo's text is comprehensive, and covers a lot of territory. It does tend to take the term "Grotesque" for granted though after passing by the introduction, and with such a loaded term, that alone gives me some pause in looking back at the work as a whole. From the beginning, Russo makes it clear that she doesn't plan on outlining all of the meanings of "the female grotesque", or going into a listing or definition. However, without at least a brief foray into those directions, readers at times might have a hard time connecting all of her chapters back to the(?) central plan of the project--as I did, as may be clear by now.

Certainly, ideas surrounding grotesque bodies are explored throughout the text, and close readings of theorists, philosophers, writers, and artists, give depth to each discussion. In the end, though, this book holds more explorations and questions than arguments or planned developments--at least for this reader.

Russo's writing also varies between being easily digested and clear (particularly in close readings of film and literature), and overly complicated with theoretical terms and allusions, many of which need more discussion to be truly clear. In effect, at times I felt as if I'd skipped a few chapters toward the beginning which were needed to really outline the terms under discussion that Russo too often takes for granted. It's possible that I simply needed more background going into this work (though I've read a fair amount on 'the grotesque' in the last few weeks), but I still have a feeling that, for any reader, parts of this work are either going to come across as overly complicated and abstract, or else too elementary---possibly both.

In closing, the ideas and discussions here are interesting and well-developed, but the major lacking is a clear central argument to hold everything together, and bridge each discussion to the grotesque in a clearer fashion.… (mer)