There was a helpful post in my MFA Facebook group, where someone asked "what are books that, when you got to your program, it seemed like everyone had read and would refer to?" A lot of people misunderstood the assignment and listed craft books, or just their own favorite books, but there were some good answers that seemed legit to me, like Jesus’ Son (have read) and Bunny by Mona Awad (obv of a different quality but based on my observations it does seem like one of those viral books everyone has read). I asked my stepdad the same question, and he loaned me several Andre Dubus books; he also definitely seems legit pre-req reading.
I hadn’t read Bunny, so I’m listening to the audiobook of it now…man, I really do not like the style it’s written in. Sort of overwrought modern gothic, and what I call "thesaurus-y" - where the author is not content to just use "normal" words, and uses different synonyms in place. Specifically, she mentioned "hair" a few times (normal) but has also used "tresses" and "locks"…ew. This style of writing is overall grating to me, but for whatever reason these hair synonyms are always the ones that I notice and hate the most. Actually, I know the reason - it’s because it reminds me of women’s magazines. Like, in an article about different shampoos or hairstyle techniques, it seemed like editorial standard to not just say "hair" each time…and there it kind of makes sense, like if you’re going to say hair fifty times over two pages, maybe it is better to mix it up. But in literary writing, it always feels unnecessary and overwritten. Just say hair!!
Anyway, I’m going to hang with it cause I’m curious where the plot is going.