Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories by Francesca Lia Block

Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories Reviews

• 
  Lord Beardsley

  Growing up as a teenager in the 90s, I was a voracious reader of Sassy magazine. Through Sassy, I learned of two female authors who forever helped shape my imagination: Poppy Z. Brite and Francesca Lia Block. Their work utterly transported me to imaginary landscapes so rich and varied that I can truly say that these books helped to shape me into the person I am today. I grew up without a computer in the house, forget the Internet (I didn't have that until college), a weird kid in Olathe, Kansas. All I wanted was to get the hell out of Dodge and these authors helped me do just that. Block's work is like a patchwork quilt made out of old concert T Shirts, paisley scarves, and saris. Her writing is lyrical and bittersweet without being precious. Her characters do drugs, have sex, make mistakes but also have this wonder and awe about the world around them. The scary and the sublime are balanced out. Reading this brought me back to a time when teenagers had the time to develop who they were without the constant scrutiny of social media. Back when you could obsess over writing a zine for hours on end full of things you love and putting the ever-seeing eye of peer scrutiny behind you. I would recommend this book for anyone, teen or otherwise who are on a Twitterbook vacation with themselves and are trying to just Be.
• 
  Kristen

  As usual, I loved this book for the language. FLB uses such beautiful, lyrical prose. I wish I could write like her. She can find magic and beauty in such ordinary, everyday things.
  
  This was a sweet collection of short stories about coming of age and the pains of growing up. I like that some of the stories focus on more and more open issues that in the past were ignored or shunned--I particularly liked "Dragons in Manhattan" about Tuck's two moms, "Blue" about a girl dealing with her mom's death, and "Pixie and Pony" about a best friend who doesn't know she is.
  
  Like all of FLB's books, I would recommend this to anyone who appreciates lush, sensual writing, magical realism, or who needs a little help remembering that she is a goddess all on her own.
• 
  Kathryn

  This was my first FLB book at age 12. Nine short stories, less than 200 pages, and I had to read it over three separate days as an adult because of how low it brought me.
  So many of these stories struck me as utterly hopeless - especially Blue, The Canyon, and Rave. Those that had some ray of light were still quite dark.
  I enjoyed Winnie and Cubbie and Orpheus, which were my favorites from reading this collection as a teen - partially nostalgia and partially because they're strong stories with some great lines. (My particular favorite twenty years ago: I stand here waiting. To disappear or sing.)
  Another reviewer (probably more than one, actually) made comment that you can see the seeds of several of her later books in these stories, and I think that's true. Her food and fashion heavy descriptions, her long sentences, visceral emotion that's quotable.
  
  I am shaking my head over my memory of FLB being a comfort to me in my adolescent angst and I am thinking about John Cusack's quote from High Fidelity:
  
  What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
• 
  Mizuki

  I like some of the stories, the writing is still good and Ms. Block has an unique angel at looking at teenagers and their ways of living, but a few of the stories feel too short and unfinished.
• 
  Laura Wallace

  After being a formative part of the online FLB cult in early high school, I became hardcore disillusioned with her when I realized the many ways in which her work is problematic and fluffy. I maintain, though, that GG9 contains her best writing. There are some really powerful stories here. I can always rely on "Blue," "Pony and Pixie" and "Winnie and Cubby" to send my tear ducts into overdrive. And I named my first zine after the book the girls love in the title story. These stories are about love and desire and gender and loss and finding beauty in a bleak, fucked-up world.
• 
  Chelsea

  This was the first book I ever hid from my parents. It made me feel high when I read it at 10 years old. It was my first taste of lyrical prose, magical realism, homosexuality, drugs, grief, and punk girls in combat boots. I can thank this book for who I am today.
• 
  elissa

  Really good collection of stories.
• 
  M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews

  A decent collection of stories about different girls, some of these deal with alternative lifestyles (such as Tuck Budd) and others deal with things like suicide. Overall if one is not overly sensitive to certain subject matters, this is an good read for a teenage girl.
• 
  Shannon

  I don't think short-form fiction is where Francesca Lia Block most thrives. Most of these stories don't really say anything meaningful or even all that memorable for me at this point in my life, and they often highlight Block's weaknesses rather than her strengths. For example, stories like "Tweetie Sweet Pea" (which is unfortunately not a strong opening statement at all) go all in on her more cutesy and precious tendencies, and since they're so short, she isn't really able to ground them in the realism or pathos necessary for balance in the way she's able to in her longer works. Also, a lot of the stories tread similar themes as her novels, where they are usually handled in a much more nuanced and developed way, meaning they come across as quite flat and pointless here, perhaps cute in the moment but not really having any staying power.
  
  I will say, I found one story in this collection to be quite excellent, which is what saves it from being a two-star rating, and that story was "Dragons in Manhattan." It's easily the longest one here, and it's so much better for having the space to properly tell its story. The main character, Tuck, is a teenage girl with two moms living in New York who has never known her dad and decides to sneak away to San Francisco to find him. At first, this seems like a fairly typical narrative, though Tuck is a great character and Block makes even the expected beats in her story engaging. However, things take a surprising turn when Tuck finds out her father is transgender and is actually one of her mothers, meaning their family has been complete all along. For a cisgender woman in the early '90s, Block handles this topic with a level of compassion and progressiveness that is pretty impressive. Sure, a couple things about the way Tuck's mom's transition is described might be written a bit differently today, but, overall, it's a really sweet and identity-affirming story that further cements Block as an author who has always tried to champion diversity and inclusion in her stories (while also occasionally being too obsessed with thin pale white girls as protagonists for her own good).
• 
  scout cook

  Meet La, whose mom commit suicide when La was really little. Meet Tuck, who doesn't know who her dad is but knows both of her moms. Meet Pony and Pixie, girls who are closer than sisters who aren't even best friends. Meet Winnie, who is in love with Cubby. Meet Cubby, who doesn't know how to deal with his issues in an honest way. I met all of these people (and more) in Girl Goddess #9, a book about all the Goddesses among the random world. Girls of all ages with all sorts of problems. From nine year olds with moms who killed themselves out of insanity, to guys in their mid-20's thru mid-thirties who just found out that this girl that they were obsessively in love with in highschool (who was also their best friend) OD'ed on heroine a year after graduation.

  
  

  I can connect this book to myself. A lot of the time I just want to run away with everything and go and hang out with my friends and just have them all in the same place and we'll just do whatever we can to get away from whatever it is trying to get to us and just be all together and just THERE. Like, just searching for whatever we want or whatever we need to search for. Tuck, Winnie and Cubby, and Pony & Pixie can actually do this. Tuck goes searching for her dad. Winnie and Cubby are just getting away from everything. Pony and Pixie can just do basically whatever. I really envy all of them, especially Pony and Pixie.

  
  

  I gave this book five stars because it was really good and it was really well writen, like the girls had actually written it. It wasn't like the grownup was trying to be a kid or anything, but it really sounded like the people who were the main-characters of the stories were telling it. It also made me think about the differences in time, even if its just a decade or so. I would reccomend this to anyone who likes adventure, romance, and randomness :).
• 
  Melody

  Gorgeous. Edgy, preternaturally aware adolescents stalk these pages like tigers. These short stories are as full as many novels. Where was Block when I was 14? Oh, right. Wikipedia says she was busy being 16. Better to have found her late than never to have found her at all. She's a champion of love, a cheerleader for the ballsy chicks who wear big clunky shoes with wispy skirts, an advocate for the odd and the broken.
• 
  Chandni

  While I liked some of these stories, none of them really spoke to me and none of them were game-changing or even especially memorable.
• 
  Harley

  this book caught me really off guard. whatever I was expecting, it wasn't that. with the exception of maybe one or two stories, each was lovely and distinct in its own way
• 
  Zev

  Many of these settings, characters, and themes were upgraded and used in "I Was A Teenage Fairy". I would recommend this to people who wanted an introduction to FLB's work. It all shows clearly how poetically she can write, and that her target audience are disaffected, misfit teens who are navigating their own sexuality and gender, and being abused by one or more adults. "Dragons in Manhattan" and "Tweetie Sweet Pea" are exceptions to this. (Seriously, as an adult I realize -nearly all I read at twelve- were stories about teens or kids with backdrops of abuse.) And fuck, it is all -outdated- thirty years later. This book had a lasting impact on me as a teen. As an adult, I opened up the e-book and realized I wouldn't have the same sense of fascination again.
  
  "Tweetie Sweet Pea" I never understood what this story was about or what it was supposed to mean, when I read this book often as a tween. As an adult, I still don't get it, still find it unsettling, and can't figure out why.
  "Blue" This story, I remembered clearly as an adult. I finally understood what was "wrong" with La's mom, and what she figured out how to do. As a kid, all I grasped was that she died by slitting her wrists in the bathtub because she was sad. Allow me to wave hello to early incarnations of Mab and Barbie from "I Was a Teenage Fairy." And--when La was describing the music box, the way the descriptive paragraph was set up, I was hoping to imagine "Masquerade" from "Phantom of the Opera" playing in my mind. My brain instead supplied me with the first three piano notes of "Something To Sing About" from BTVS, and the first three sung notes: "Life's a show." I was so surprised by my mind that I cackled. I didn't mean to, and hit the wrong button in the e-book, completely losing my place. It felt like a punishment, as it took me a bit to find my original place. The story's still really freakin' sad.
  
  "Dragons in Manhattan" Ooh, this story was my favorite out of the whole collection when I was a tween. As an adult: so many things in here, if shown realistically, would cause the plot to fall apart like a house of cards. Especially viewed through a 2019 lens--(shakes head) This--just wouldn't happen. The treatment of transgender people and sex reassignment surgery--so, so outdated. It doesn't take just one surgery to go full MTF. It takes between eight and fourteen. Facial feminisation is a detailed process. The story still had beautiful lyricism to it, though.
  "Girl Goddess #9" I was always both swept away and creeped out by this as a tween. As an adult, I was...disillusioned. It's two girls meeting their celebrity crush and his girlfriend, and discovering their own sexualities. It seemed so grand to me as a teen.
  "Rave" I don't remember reading this at all as a teen. Sad and beautiful.
  "The Canyon" I wasn't affected by this, damn it. Ugh. At twelve, I was entranced. Now, I understand it more clearly. I had hoped I would still be fascinated.
  
  "Pixie and Pony" I was a few pages into this story before I remembered it. More specifically, how it broke my heart over and over for a few years. It didn't break my heart this time, but I needed to set the book aside for a bit.
  "Winnie and Cubby" I didn't remember this one at first. I remembered it vaguely and then definitely parts of it. In re Cubby: Allow me to wave hi to the early incarnation of Todd from "I was A Teenage Fairy", or possibly Matt too. Cubby's dad is a horrible person. Otherwise, the emotions this story meant to evoke weren't there for me. I really like how FLB wrote it, though.
  "Orpheus" I read the story, but felt like I was missing something.
• 
  Lena

  I love Francesca Lia Block, but these stories were not particularly touching to me the way that the Weetzie Bat stories are. I think I prefer her descriptions of Los Angeles over the ones of San Francisco; I currently live in San Francisco and it's tremendously difficult for me to feel positive emotions about it. I saw her say something once on Facebook about Witch Baby feeling sad and having "lost herself among the gingerbread houses and fog"-- that captures how I feel much more accurately than the romanticized version of San Francisco that shows up multiple times in this collection of stories.
  
  The stories I liked were:
  Tweetie Sweet Pea
  Blue
  Rave
  Pixie and Pony (though by the time I reached this story, I practically had a toothache from all of the sugar-sweet descriptions of food, clothing, hairstyles, and locations)
  
  Everything else was not my cup of tea. But I will drop this book off in a Little Free Library box, and maybe it will find a girl goddess somewhere out there who needs it more than me.
• 
  Rat

  Quotes:
  N/A
  
  Stars: 2.5-3
  
  Review:
  ...
  What do I say about this book? I hate writing reviews for books I didn't like, because ugh. I usually love short stories, but when I read this, I didn't. Something my mom said to me not too long ago became apparent while reading this book -- She doesn't like short stories because it feels like they're rushed, packed in. Like the author is running out of time. That's how I felt when reading this. Like everything was jumping all over the place because Block needed to remember one detail, but there wasn't enough room for everything. I wouldn't really recommend.
• 
  Amanda

  Everything by Francesca Lia Block has a sameness to it. A shimmering LA teenage dream quality that gets old. The characters are almost indistinguishable in a way that makes them seem autobiographical (same taste in music, clothes, all vegetarian, etc). I give this one a solid meh.
• 
  Rachel

  Hmm. This wasn't what I expected. I'm not really a fan of the particular literary style this is written in, and I found myself skimming a lot. It's not necessarily bad, just not my cup of tea. I did love "Dragons in Manhattan," but the rest were pretty forgettable to me.
• 
  Rina Thomas

  I love Francesca’s style of writing. She truly transports you to this whimsical LA full of magic. I like that she wrote sort of ordinary stories, but somehow made them feel like a fairy tale. I will definitely be tackling the Weetzie Bat books next!
• 
  milena

  its actually revolutionary and made me sad that im not a little kid anymore. yes
• 
  Pattim

  Some of these short stories were terrific. Some I just skimmed over. Not my cup of tea but apparently others love it.
• 
  Sarah

  Not sure what made me think of this but 20 years ago me gave this 5 stars absolutely.
• 
  Annie

  Lovely walk down these memories, been trying to remember Dragons in Manhattan for years.
• 
  Akiba Hollins

  Favorite story Dragons in Manhattan. A story of true acceptance and love
• 
  Cherie

  Lovely short stories about various girls...love Block's writing and whimsical beautiful short stories.
• 
  Dan Blackley

  Different stories.
  
• 
  Lexidreams

  # 1
  2.5 *s
  
  #2
  2 *s
  
  #3
  2 *s
  
  #4
  2 *s
  
  #5
  3 *s
  
  #6
  2.5 *s
  
  #7
  3 *s
  
  Over all rating: 2.5 *s, C
  
  
  Now to get to the good stuff. I feel a bit sad I didn't really connect to this book. I had a thought while I was reading it maybe I should stop while I'm ahead and books like I Once Was a Teenage Fairy can stay forever unstained by memory, but then I thought I love the few times FB hits home too much even if they are a bit far between.
  
  The thing is you don't read Francessca Block for her stories or settings or even her characters so much (even though without them it is hard to imagine what any FB story would be), you read her books for the atmosphere she creates and, oh boy, can she create an amazing atmosphere. Using countless flower names, lyrical descriptions that could make the ugliest things turn beautiful, a hum of acceptance that runs through all her stories- it doesn't matter what color skin you have, whichever sex makes you happier. FB is like a mother sitting by your bed just as you're all warm and snuggly to read you a fairytale (though even fairytales contain nightmares).
  
  But FB rarely gets beyond 3 stars in my ratings despite the fact that I will buy any book just for having her name on it. That is because the atmosphere isn't everything someone needs and though FB does that part wonderfully, I am usually left needing more from all of her books.
  
  Anyway back to Girl Goddess #9. Perhaps FB was trying to tap into the inner child in all of us but I don't think any of her characters rang true for anything beyond the age of 10.
  
  Because I gobble up FB books like low fat chocolate I was a little irked with one repeated paragraph, though I suppose it's simply a return to the LA setting. The bit about a murderer breaking in through peoples windows in the valley was in another one of her books but I can't remember which exactly.
  
  One of many things that make FB great at atmospheres? "The chlorine was green smelling." The ways she goes beyond boundaries to mix senses, sounding a bit like a child in her will not to be ruled by rules.
  
  I might write a bit more on why I rated each story the way I did, I might not. Quite frankly most of them were forgettable- the characters, the plots. But somehow the words linger- amaryllis, iris, and rose; Cottages in the mountains with herb gardens and painted shutters and running children. Boys sneaking through windows, electric flowers...
• 
  Monica

  Block either gets it very right or very wrong and that is why this is the second collection of her's that has received a middle-of-the-way rating from me . There are pieces that are amazing and then there are snoozefests.
  
  Block reminds me of what it felt like to be a teen; how first loves and difficult topics made me feel. She does this through her expressive language. I have never read another author who writes like Block. Others have described her writing as magical and I can't say that I disagree. This magical language is able to help teens through tough subjects that are not always openly discussed. I do have to say that her work is getting dated. Some of the references, I don't believe, today, would be understood by her targeted audience. For example, Chemin de Fer jeans. Other references have such underlying meaning that again, may not reach Block's targeted audience. Examples include: "Angels in America", The Valley, and some of the painting and food choices.
  
  My library has this book in the juvenile section. Not the teen section. Not the YA section. The juvenile fiction. To each his own, I guess but I feel that there are very strong themes in this book for juvenile fiction. On that note, I do feel that the writing in
  Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories is directed toward a more juvenile audience then that in
  Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books.
  
  Stories I liked: Dragons in Manhattan, Rave, Orpheus
  
  Stories I didn't like: Girl Goddess #9, The Canyon
  
  The other ones were in the middle for me. Very, meh.
• 
  Justina

  I LOVED this book.. I've had the book for a long time but have only read certain chapters out of it, here and there. I finally just read it all the way through, in pretty much a few sittings. It is a quick read with each chapter being a different story altogether. They are nice little vignettes with quirky characters who all seem to be longing for something.
  
  The Longest excerpt of the whole book is Dragons in Manhattan which centers around the young character Tuck Budd who has 2 moms (Izzy and Anastasia). Finally one day she decides to go searching for her real father on the West Coast, from San Francisco to Hollywood.
  
  Anyway, one thing I thought was especially interesting was a tidbit on page 50, where Tuck is searching for clues in an old box of photographs in her mother's closet.
  
  "A picture that this purple eyed girl had taken of us once, at our Indian restaurant, a few years ago and sent us in the mail".
  
  I think this is an easter egg in reference to Witch Baby (who is the only FLB character with purple eyes that has a camera)... and Girl Goddess was published a few years after Dangerous Angels. This little Easter Egg is so fascinating to me, and now I want to go back and read Missing Angel Juan (the excerpt of DA which is all about Witch Baby carrying a camera around NYC while looking for Angel Juan), just to see if there is any mention of WB photographing Tuck and her Moms... It's always cool to see small characters from one book stem off into their own spin off story...