Sucker Punch: Essays
Scaachi Koul. St. Martin’s, $28 (272p) ISBN 978-1-250-27050-4
Slate journalist Koul follows up her 2017 collection One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter with a sharp companion volume that reflects on body image, the dissolution of her marriage, and her mother’s cancer. “Parvati Stands in Flames” recounts how in the months leading up to Koul’s divorce, she picked arguments with her husband in an unsuccessful attempt to halt their slow drifting apart: “Fighting is a connection, a tether between two people who hate each other because they can’t find love.” Across several pieces, Koul explores her complex relationship with her mother, lamenting that though her mother’s body image issues contributed to her own, she’s still awed by her mother’s ability to hold their family together even while undergoing cancer treatment. Pairing humor with vulnerability, Koul reflects on how the end of her marriage exacerbated her eating disorder, writing, “Here are some things I would rather do in public than write about my body and, specifically, my struggle for self-esteem: punch my cat in the face, eat a leech, have sex with an impolite wolf.” The most powerful piece, “A Close Read,” describes Koul’s complicated feelings about reconnecting with a college friend who raped her to get his thoughts on an essay she had published about their relationship. Probing and strikingly candid, this is another winner from Koul. Agent: Ron Eckel, Cooke McDermid Literary. (Mar.)
Details
Reviewed on: 01/14/2025
Genre: Nonfiction
Hardcover - 272 pages - 978-1-0390-5612-1