PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksThe themes of Difficult Women are the themes of Gay’s more political essays. The insight remains, but rather than presenting her reader with well-reasoned cultural criticism, she evokes an emotional landscape, or lack thereof ... While the vignettes are highly evocative, the longer stories are inherently more satisfying ... At times, Gay’s genre shifts are disorienting. While most of her stories are set in the quotidian world, some are anchored in alternate futures or are elaborately constructed metaphors ... Difficult Women, as its title suggests, is not easy or precisely pleasant reading. The collection is often dark and disturbing, but also deeply empathetic. In Gay’s attention to damage, she highlights survival, strength, and humanity. In her deliberate and often exquisite attention to detail, she crafts stories that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put away.
