Wiener is often presented as a 'sex' writer, and accounts of her sexual experiences, narrated with a bemused frankness, dominate the pages of this collection. She is, however, an adept chronicler of many subjects and a talented writer in a variety of tones ... At her best, Wiener is witty and fast-paced ... Part of her appeal lies in the fact that she sometimes writes about sexual topics that have not been well explored, especially by women, and a sense of incredulity is part of the pleasure of reading her work ... Wiener is a talented writer with a gift for metaphor ... Wiener provides no explanation of this context for the non–Latin American reader; as a result, the first few pages are hard to follow ... the translation of Latin American cronistas like Gabriela Wiener is a cause for celebration. Talented and innovative.
I was drawn to how she wove together the personal and the social, the anecdotal and the analytical, as she related a singular experience by rooting it in a more universal one of identity ... Beautifully translated from the Spanish by Jennifer Adcock and Lucy Greaves ... While her observations are indeed incisive, Wiener is anything but a voyeur, which suggests an external observer. She instead commits to each and every one of her stories, immersing herself in the experience so as to reach a deeper level of understanding. This intimate relationship between writer and subject defines her approach ... This self-awareness, coupled with the penetrative nature of these pieces, makes this collection especially compelling ... Wiener’s sincere, funny voice comes through clearly in Greaves and Adcock’s translation ... With Sexographies, Wiener does something truly unique by writing so honestly and openly about contemporary body politics.
Ideas, reflections, and humour intersect ... a gonzo journalist who takes an active role in whatever subject she investigates, which as often as not involves sex, and not the vanilla variety ... Suffice to say, Wiener’s free-wheeling style is hugely entertaining.
What is most powerful about the collection is Wiener’s audacious and immersive style, skilfully captured in English translation by experienced translators Lucy Greaves and Jennifer Adcock. Like the gonzo journalists she is compared to, there is no pretense at objectivity. The author fearlessly throws herself into what the reader would regard as uncomfortable, or even risky situations as part of her quest to provide faithful and honest accounts of personal experience ... Wiener is a good writer. She also knows how to consistently elevate her engaging, chatty style to the higher heights of more literary expression... However, at times Wiener’s personal narrative, her intense desire to document experience and put herself in extreme circumstances to unveil some deeper truth, actually seems to take precedence over that deeper truth itself ... Nonetheless, Sexographies is a promising example of how Latin American cronistas are experimenting with literary journalism.
