The Body of the Thing - by Karishma Jobanputra (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A lyrical and visceral short story collection, The Body of the Thing unpicks the hierarchies that thrum under our relationships, from first loves and lusts to motherhood and miscarriages, from sexual awakenings to final confrontations with death. Moving from bougie neighbourhoods in Manhattan to the sun-drenched piazzas of Italy, from the coastal Maine to the bustle of London, these stories chase the fallout when women's bodies are valued for their beauty and youth, dismissed and discarded when ill, or made useful as parents and caregivers. Fluid, sensual, and fearless, The Body of the Thing puts the screws to the wellness industry, explores body dysmorphia and eating disorders, and celebrates female desire in all its complicated wonder. Unmissable.

Review Quotes

"Arresting, beautiful, humorous, observant, serious, all at the same time." --Paul Beatty

"Karishma pulls off a rare trick. Her strange world is incredibly compelling. Her cityscape is undefined and yet familiar, its people hover within seeking ever elusive connection." --Vanessa Branson

"Lyrical and specific, eloquent and real." --Raffaella Barker

About the Author

Karishma Jobanputra is a British Indian writer who has lived in London and New York and is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA Fiction programme. Listed for the Brick Lane Short Story Prize 2024 and for the Disquiet Literary Prize for Fiction in 2021 and 2023, she was selected as the winner of the Eilean Shona Writing Workshop scholarship in 2021, where she returned to teach in 2023. Her work has been published in No Tokens Journal, The Rumpus, Wildness Journal, and Columbia Journal, amongst other places.