Overview

One of the Best Books of the Year The New York Times • The Washington Post • NPR • San Francisco Chronicle • Vanity Fair • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel • Kansas City Star When Velveteen Vargas, an eleven-year-old Fresh Air Fund kid from Brooklyn, comes to stay with a family in upstate New York, what begins as a two-week visit blossoms into something much more significant. Soon Velvet finds herself torn between her host family—Ginger, a failed artist and shakily recovered alcoholic; and Paul, a college professor—and her own deeply tormented mother. The one constant becomes Velvet’s newly discovered passion for horse riding—and especially for an abused, unruly mare named Fugly Girl. A stirring and deeply felt novel, The Mare is Mary Gaitskill’s most poignant and powerful work yet—a stunning exploration of a girl and her horse, and of the way we connect with people from all walks of life.

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Reviews

Extraordinary. . . . [A] magnificently hopeful novel. --The New York Times Book Review Captivating. . . . A fascinating exploration of urban despair, female depression and sexual awakening. --The Washington Post Brave and bold. . . . The range of Gaitskill's humanity is astonishing. --Los Angeles Times Gaitskill is such a preternaturally gifted writer that nearly every page of The Mare shimmers with exacting and sometimes hallucinatory observation. --The New York Times A raw, beautiful story about love and mutual delusion. --Maureen Corrigan, NPR [An] extraordinary artistic achievement. . . . Bracing in its rigorous truth-seeking, subtle and capacious in its moral vision, Gaitskill's work feels more real than real life and reading her leads to a place that feels like a sacred space. --The Boston Globe Remarkably tender. . . . A deeply affecting tribute to basic human connection. --Entertainment Weekly The Mare is indebted, in its narrative strategy, to As I Lay Dying, another novel that employs a host of recurring narrators to get at the tangled intricacies of family life. . . . [Velvet] is that most wonderful of fictional creations: a convincing child who manages to be a captivating and perceptive narrator. --The New Yorker [Gaitskill's] gift is to unfold emotions, no matter how petty or upsetting, and describe them with disarming patience. . . . The result often feels both primal and electric, something like a latter-day D. H. Lawrence. --Chicago Tribune Piercingly poignant. . . . Give[s] eloquent voice to the ineffable thoughts and feelings experienced across boundaries of age and race and class and gender--and even, in this case, species. --Minneapolis Star Tribune Poetic, uplifting. --San Francisco Chronicle Gaitskill is more than a gifted story-teller. She is an enchanter. . . . The power of [her] writing comes, in part, from her ability to evoke strong emotions without offering the resolutions readers have come to expect. --New Republic The Mare ripples with internal emotional movement, but it is also a physical novel. . . . Nothing stands still, not the horses, not the violent mother or the would-be mother, not the vicious jealous friends, not the boyfriend or husband, not the sky. --Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books The Mare is classic Gaitskill. . . . In [her] hands, even the most raw and fleeting moments drip with complexity. --Elle Gaitskill builds her story through rotating first-person narratives. . . . [Her] structure allows her to spotlight the limitations in every character's perspective while nevertheless fostering sympathy for each of them. And the voices ring true. --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel To know these characters and to judge this book, you have to read every word, and be ready to have your own prejudices challenged. --The Buffalo News I can think of no other living writer who so deftly feels into the corners of each of her characters' emotions. --Liz Cook, The Kansas City Star Extraordinary. . . . [A] magnificently hopeful novel. The New York Times Book Review Captivating. . . . A fascinating exploration of urban despair, female depression and sexual awakening. The Washington Post Brave and bold. . . . The range of Gaitskill s humanity is astonishing. Los Angeles Times Gaitskill is such a preternaturally gifted writer that nearly every page of The Mare shimmers with exacting and sometimes hallucinatory observation. The New York Times A raw, beautiful story about love and mutual delusion. Maureen Corrigan, NPR [An] extraordinary artistic achievement. . . . Bracing in its rigorous truth-seeking, subtle and capacious in its moral vision, Gaitskill s work feels more real than real life and reading her leads to a place that feels like a sacred space. The Boston Globe Remarkably tender. . . . A deeply affecting tribute to basic human connection. Entertainment Weekly The Mare is indebted, in its narrative strategy, to As I Lay Dying, another novel that employs a host of recurring narrators to get at the tangled intricacies of family life. . . . [Velvet] is that most wonderful of fictional creations: a convincing child who manages to be a captivating and perceptive narrator. The New Yorker [Gaitskill s] gift is to unfold emotions, no matter how petty or upsetting, and describe them with disarming patience. . . . The result often feels both primal and electric, something like a latter-day D. H. Lawrence. Chicago Tribune Piercingly poignant. . . . Give[s] eloquent voice to the ineffable thoughts and feelings experienced across boundaries of age and race and class and gender and even, in this case, species. Minneapolis Star Tribune Poetic, uplifting. San Francisco Chronicle Gaitskill is more than a gifted story-teller. She is an enchanter. . . . The power of [her] writing comes, in part, from her ability to evoke strong emotions without offering the resolutions readers have come to expect. New Republic The Mare ripples with internal emotional movement, but it is also a physical novel. . . . Nothing stands still, not the horses, not the violent mother or the would-be mother, not the vicious jealous friends, not the boyfriend or husband, not the sky. Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books The Mare is classic Gaitskill. . . . In [her] hands, even the most raw and fleeting moments drip with complexity. Elle Gaitskill builds her story through rotating first-person narratives. . . . [Her] structure allows her to spotlight the limitations in every character s perspective while nevertheless fostering sympathy for each of them. And the voices ring true. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel To know these characters and to judge this book, you have to read every word, and be ready to have your own prejudices challenged. The Buffalo News I can think of no other living writer who so deftly feels into the corners of each of her characters emotions. Liz Cook, The Kansas City Star Extraordinary. . . . [A] magnificently hopeful novel. The New York Times Book Review Captivating. . . . A fascinating exploration of urban despair, female depression and sexual awakening. The Washington Post Brave and bold. . . . The range of Gaitskill s humanity is astonishing. Los Angeles Times Gaitskill is such a preternaturally gifted writer that nearly every page of The Mare shimmers with exacting and sometimes hallucinatory observation. The New York Times A raw, beautiful story about love and mutual delusion. Maureen Corrigan, NPR [An] extraordinary artistic achievement. . . . Bracing in its rigorous truth-seeking, subtle and capacious in its moral vision, Gaitskill s work feels more real than real life and reading her leads to a place that feels like a sacred space. The Boston Globe Remarkably tender. . . . A deeply affecting tribute to basic human connection. Entertainment Weekly The Mare is indebted, in its narrative strategy, to As I Lay Dying, another novel that employs a host of recurring narrators to get at the tangled intricacies of family life. . . . [Velvet] is that most wonderful of fictional creations: a convincing child who manages to be a captivating and perceptive narrator. The New Yorker [Gaitskill s] gift is to unfold emotions, no matter how petty or upsetting, and describe them with disarming patience. . . . The result often feels both primal and electric, something like a latter-day D. H. Lawrence. Chicago Tribune Piercingly poignant. . . . Give[s] eloquent voice to the ineffable thoughts and feelings experienced across boundaries of age and race and class and gender and even, in this case, species. Minneapolis Star Tribune Poetic, uplifting. San Francisco Chronicle Gaitskill is more than a gifted story-teller. She is an enchanter. . . . The power of [her] writing comes, in part, from her ability to evoke strong emotions without offering the resolutions readers have come to expect. New Republic The Mare ripples with internal emotional movement, but it is also a physical novel. . . . Nothing stands still, not the horses, not the violent mother or the would-be mother, not the vicious jealous friends, not the boyfriend or husband, not the sky. Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books The Mare is classic Gaitskill. . . . In [her] hands, even the most raw and fleeting moments drip with complexity. Elle Gaitskill builds her story through rotating first-person narratives. . . . [Her] structure allows her to spotlight the limitations in every character s perspective while nevertheless fostering sympathy for each of them. And the voices ring true. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel To know these characters and to judge this book, you have to read every word, and be ready to have your own prejudices challenged. The Buffalo News I can think of no other living writer who so deftly feels into the corners of each of her characters emotions. Liz Cook, The Kansas City Star One of Huffington Post 's 2015 Fall 33 Can't-Miss New ReadsOne of Kirkus Reviews 21 Must Read Fall BooksA Refinery29 Fall fiction Great American Novels pickAn Entertainment Weekly pick for Blockbuster Novels of Fall 2015 The Mare is a raw, beautiful story about love and mutual delusion, in which the fierce erotics of mother love and romantic love and even horse fever are swirled together. Maureen Corrigan s Best Books of 2015, NPR s Fresh Air Gaitskill has not lost her gift for transforming the outside world into the particular vision of one of her characters, rich and perplexed, and The Mare ripples with internal emotional movement, but it is also a physical novel . . . the book is an exciting read. Nothing stands still, not the horses, not the violent mother or the would-be mother, not the vicious jealous friends, not the boyfriend or husband, not the sky. Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books [Gaitskill s] strange gift is to unfold emotions, no matter how petty or upsetting, and describe them with disarming patience for their stutters and silences, their repetitions and contradictions. The result often feels both primal and electric, something like a latter-day D. H. Lawrence. Amy Gentry, Chicago Tribune Ms. Gaitskill is such a preternaturally gifted writer that nearly every page of The Mare shimmers with exacting and sometimes hallucinatory observation. Dwight Garner, The New York Times Thank goodness Gaitskill wrote this book, for it is neither Disneyfied nor dark but a beautiful coming-of-age novel about love and violence with a soupcon of redemption tossed in. Natalie Serber, The Portland Oregonian The range of Gaitskill's humanity is astonishing and matched only, it seems, by a desire to confront readers with the trembling reality of our shared ugliness . . . This is a coming-of-age story in the way we are always coming of age, whether we are 13 or 47. What elevates it is the way Gaitskill rides herd on sentimentality, which isn't to suggest that the work isn't emotional it is. It's just that there are no false notes, no stumbles in the rare moments of tenderness. It's brave and bold to publish a book like this. Make no mistake: The women in this book, like Gaitskill herself, are mares. Elissa Schappell, The Lost Angeles Times The Mare is classic Gaitskill . . . The novel is a reimagining of Enid Bagnold's National Velvet and what makes Gaitskill such an apt writer to recast Bagnold's beloved story is their shared obsession with the psychological tangle of intimate relationships . . . In Gaitskill's hands, even the most raw and fleeting moments drip with complexity. Kessiah Weird, Elle Magazine The Mare is worth reading for the plot alone, which is as uplifting as it is gutting. But Gaitskill is more than a gifted story-teller. She is an enchanter, to borrow Nabokov s description of what makes a good writer a major one. The particular way in which she enchants by putting into words the wordless undercurrent of human behavior is explicit in The Mare. Hannah Tennant-Moore, The New Republic The Mare is indebted, in its narrative strategy, to As I Lay Dying, another novel that employs a host of recurring narrators to get at the tangled intricacies of family life. There is a certain loom-like effect at work in both books, a warp-and-woof texture, visible only to the reader, produced by the interwoven sets of impressions . . . On horseback, Velvet is in her own, untouchable place, and Gaitskill s sentences lift their necks and pick up speed to match her movements stride for stride. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker In her last novel, Veronica, Gaitskill found a language for the inexpressible in the form of sexuality. The Mare goes further and deeper to give eloquent voice to the ineffable thoughts and feelings experienced across boundaries of age and race and class and gender and even, in this case, species. Ellen Akins, The Minneapolis Star Tribune In soaring languagethat well captures being in the zone, whether it s painting or riding, Gaitskill brings home her theme of the importance of honoring one s gifts and the hard work of finding the best outlet for creative expression. Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist The major and minor voices narrating this brilliant tapestry are wondrously original, poignant and despite all, not without hope. Library Journal (starred review) Gaitskill takes a premise that could have been preachy, sentimental, or simplistic juxtaposing urban and rural, rich and poor, young and old, brown and white and makes it candid and emotionally complex, spare, real, and deeply affecting. She explores the complexities of love (mares, meres . . . ) to bring us a novel that gallops along like a bracing bareback ride on a powerful thoroughbred. Kirkus Reviews (starred review) [Gaitskill weaves] a rich back-and-forth narrative that encompasses falling in love, growing up, and doing right in worlds of privilege and poverty. The Bust Guide From the Hardcover edition.

One of Huffington Post 's 2015 Fall 33 Can't-Miss New ReadsOne of Kirkus Reviews 21 Must Read Fall BooksA Refinery29 Fall fiction Great American Novels pickAn Entertainment Weekly pick for Blockbuster Novels of Fall 2015 The Mare is a raw, beautiful story about love and mutual delusion, in which the fierce erotics of mother love and romantic love and even horse fever are swirled together. Maureen Corrigan s Best Books of 2015, NPR s Fresh Air Gaitskill has not lost her gift for transforming the outside world into the particular vision of one of her characters, rich and perplexed, and The Mare ripples with internal emotional movement, but it is also a physical novel . . . the book is an exciting read. Nothing stands still, not the horses, not the violent mother or the would-be mother, not the vicious jealous friends, not the boyfriend or husband, not the sky. Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of Books [Gaitskill s] strange gift is to unfold emotions, no matter how petty or upsetting, and describe them with disarming patience for their stutters and silences, their repetitions and contradictions. The result often feels both primal and electric, something like a latter-day D. H. Lawrence. Amy Gentry, Chicago Tribune Ms. Gaitskill is such a preternaturally gifted writer that nearly every page of The Mare shimmers with exacting and sometimes hallucinatory observation. Dwight Garner, The New York Times Thank goodness Gaitskill wrote this book, for it is neither Disneyfied nor dark but a beautiful coming-of-age novel about love and violence with a soupcon of redemption tossed in. Natalie Serber, The Portland Oregonian The range of Gaitskill's humanity is astonishing and matched only, it seems, by a desire to confront readers with the trembling reality of our shared ugliness . . . This is a coming-of-age story in the way we are always coming of age, whether we are 13 or 47. What elevates it is the way Gaitskill rides herd on sentimentality, which isn't to suggest that the work isn't emotional it is. It's just that there are no false notes, no stumbles in the rare moments of tenderness. It's brave and bold to publish a book like this. Make no mistake: The women in this book, like Gaitskill herself, are mares. Elissa Schappell, The Lost Angeles Times The Mare is classic Gaitskill . . . The novel is a reimagining of Enid Bagnold's National Velvet and what makes Gaitskill such an apt writer to recast Bagnold's beloved story is their shared obsession with the psychological tangle of intimate relationships . . . In Gaitskill's hands, even the most raw and fleeting moments drip with complexity. Kessiah Weird, Elle Magazine The Mare is worth reading for the plot alone, which is as uplifting as it is gutting. But Gaitskill is more than a gifted story-teller. She is an enchanter, to borrow Nabokov s description of what makes a good writer a major one. The particular way in which she enchants by putting into words the wordless undercurrent of human behavior is explicit in The Mare. Hannah Tennant-Moore, The New Republic The Mare is indebted, in its narrative strategy, to As I Lay Dying, another novel that employs a host of recurring narrators to get at the tangled intricacies of family life. There is a certain loom-like effect at work in both books, a warp-and-woof texture, visible only to the reader, produced by the interwoven sets of impressions . . . On horseback, Velvet is in her own, untouchable place, and Gaitskill s sentences lift their necks and pick up speed to match her movements stride for stride. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker In her last novel, Veronica, Gaitskill found a language for the inexpressible in the form of sexuality. The Mare goes further and deeper to give eloquent voice to the ineffable thoughts and feelings experienced across boundaries of age and race and class and gender and even, in this case, species. Ellen Akins, The Minneapolis Star Tribune In soaring languagethat well captures being in the zone, whether it s painting or riding, Gaitskill brings home her theme of the importance of honoring one s gifts and the hard work of finding the best outlet for creative expression. Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist The major and minor voices narrating this brilliant tapestry are wondrously original, poignant and despite all, not without hope. Library Journal (starred review) Gaitskill takes a premise that could have been preachy, sentimental, or simplistic juxtaposing urban and rural, rich and poor, young and old, brown and white and makes it candid and emotionally complex, spare, real, and deeply affecting. She explores the complexities of love (mares, meres . . . ) to bring us a novel that gallops along like a bracing bareback ride on a powerful thoroughbred. Kirkus Reviews (starred review) [Gaitskill weaves] a rich back-and-forth narrative that encompasses falling in love, growing up, and doing right in worlds of privilege and poverty. The Bust Guide From the Hardcover edition.

Author Information

Mary Gaitskill is the author of the story collections Bad Behavior, Because They Wanted To (nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award), and Don’t Cry, and the novels Veronica (nominated for a National Book Award) and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories, and The O. Henry Prize Stories.

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