desirelines book club: episode 5

The desirelines book club is hosted at desirelines book shop by multi award-winning writer Monika Radojevic. This is a book club that will explore the messiness, intimacy and complexity of desire, sex and sexuality in literature. Expect a carefully curated selection of books and open-minded, respectful discussions where everyone is welcome. Our next pick is 'What Am I, A Deer?' written by Polly Barton. What does it mean to lose yourself – and is that something you should be aiming for? A young woman with little interest in games takes up a job in Frankfurt at a famous gaming company, naively set on reinvention. On her morning commute, in the familiar clutches of tedium and self-loathing, she encounters a nice-eyed stranger who returns her forgotten umbrella and finds herself catapulted into a dizzying, year-long whirlwind of obsession – not just with this endlessly attractive spectre, but also with the feverish karaoke trips from which she draws the ultimate solace. With astonishing existential acuity, Polly Barton’s formidable debut novel renders the paradoxes of modern life in all its complexity, in deliriously self-conscious prose that is at once propulsive, titillating and bitingly funny. Grab a copy and join us at the store on 3 November at 7pm. Luma registration essential. About the book club: as the famous saying goes: everything is about sex except sex. sex is about power. the ways that literature portrays sex are a reflection of taboos, social norms, human desires and emotional intimacy. they can also be a reflection of the person that wrote them, their biases and privileges, their unique insights into vulnerable, pleasurable or dangerous moments. we want to explore the many ways these themes come up in some of the best literature around.