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Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

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Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

Written by: Andrea Lawlor
Narrated by: Dani Martineck
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About this listen

"In these irreverent pages, a shapeshifter gets a crash course in gender and sexuality by inhabiting both sides of the binary and arriving precisely somewhere in the middle." —O, The Oprah Magazine

“HOT” (Maggie Nelson) • “TIGHT” (Eileen Myles) • “DEEP” (Michelle Tea)

It's 1993 and Paul Polydoris tends bar at the only gay club in a university town thrumming with politics and partying. He studies queer theory, has a dyke best friend, makes zines, and is a flaneur with a rich dating life. But Paul's also got a secret: he's a shapeshifter. Oscillating wildly from Riot Grrrl to leather cub, Paul transforms his body and his gender at will as he crossed the country–a journey and adventure through the deep queer archives of struggle and pleasure.

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is a riotous, razor-sharp bildungsroman whose hero/ine wends his/her way through a world gutted by loss, pulsing with music, and opening into an array of intimacy and connections.

©2019 Andrea Lawlor (P)2019 Random House Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Fantasy Magic LGBTQIA+

What the critics say

"Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl is playful, sexy, smart, and like nothing else I—or you—have ever read before."—Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

“Restless, muscular, and playful…. A tight satisfying masterpiece.”—Eileen Myles, author of Evolution

“Fast-paced and cheeky…a touchingly sweet-hearted and deeply cool book.”—Michelle Tea, author of Black Wave
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Most relevant
Paul was a bit slow to start, but was so worthwhile. It's truly special and unique, and Lawlor is a wonderful writer. This was one of my favorite books of the past few years. I'll be buying copies for many of my queer friends.

Wonderful romp through 90s gay America!

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I felt there was a great lack of plot. ThonI never finished the book, it felt there there was just filler between six scenes and no actual direction to it. The writing is well done but that's all I can really say about it.

No plot

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