Boy Parts: A Novel
Description
One of Granta's Best Young British Novelists 2023
An incendiary debut novel from a brash new talent—a pitch-black comedy, both shocking and hilarious, which fearlessly explores sexuality and gender roles in the twenty-first century.
“Hallucinogenic, electric and sharp, Boy Parts is a whirlwind exploration of gender, class, and power.”—Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater
Exiled from the art world and on sabbatical from her dead-end bar job, Irina obsessively takes explicit photographs of the average-looking men she persuades to model for her, scouted from the streets of Newcastle.
But her talent has not gone unnoticed, and Irina is invited to display her work at a fashionable London gallery. It is a chance to revive her career and escape from the rut of drugs, alcohol, and extreme cinema she’s fallen into. Yet the news instead triggers a self-destructive tailspin, centered around Irina’s consuming relationship with her best friend, and a shy young man from her local supermarket who has attracted her attention. . . .
Praise for Boy Parts: A Novel
“Will make most readers howl with laughter and/or shut their eyes in horror.” — The Guardian
?"It’s delightfully and deviously rooted in the now with its delectable internet and culture references and evocative and real-feeling portrait of women." — Dazed Digital
"A funny and intensely readable spiral staircase down into the mind of a woman who wears a waist trainer under her clothes and who may or may not be a keen purveyor of ultra-violence." — VICE
"Explores the darkest corners of artistic practice, sexuality and violence with bold wit and fearlessness. A dazzling, horrifying debut." — Irish Times
"[Clark's] writing embraces the socially unacceptable, and wryly explores themes of gender, power and violence." — Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2023
"Hallucinogenic, electric and sharp, Boy Parts is a whirlwind exploration of gender, class and power. In funny, acerbic prose, Clark shows us how it feels to inhabit a body that moves through a world full of eyes. She illuminates the cracks that begin to appear when the subject turns voyeur and the violence inherent in the shatter." — Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater
"Boy Parts is a carnival funhouse ride–terrifying, feverish, hilarious. Clark has created a wholly original monster and a sickeningly compulsive novel. I absolutely inhaled this book." — Julia Armfield, author of Salt Slow
"Smart, stylish and very funny, Boy Parts is a gripping and unflinching exploration of female desire, narcissism, sexuality and rage. You won't want to put it down." — Lara Williams, author of Supper Club
“The main protagonist will prove to be one of the most alluring, infuriating, and complex characters in modern British literature.” — Niall Griffiths
"Eliza Clark is unflinching in this witty and shocking excavation of female rage and desire, and is sure to gain a cultish following. It is unlike anything I’ve read before, and it left me utterly invigorated and repulsed." — Elizabeth MacNeal, author of The Doll Factory
"Boundaries are for breaking and if anyone can crash through and reinterpret the fear of our time, Eliza Clark can." — MsLexia
"Even at its most transgressive, it all feels effortless. Dark, funny, bold, it’s an exceptional debut." — The Skinny
"An impressive, fiercely current debut . . . delightful and addictive." — i News
