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Mary Gaitskill
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Two Girls Fat and Thin Paperback – February 27, 1998

by Mary Gaitskill (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 128 ratings
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This captivating novel shimmers with dark intensity and wicked wit. In a stunning synthesis of eroticism, rage, pathos, and humor, Gaitskill's "fine storyteller's pace and brilliant metaphors" (The New York Times Book Review) create a haunting and unforgettable journey into the dark side of contemporary life and the deepest recesses of the soul.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster
  4. Publication date
    February 27, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.81 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0684843129
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0684843124
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

It is a credit to Ms. Gaitskill's prose, with its fine storyteller's pace and brilliant metaphors, that we are drawn along, loath to abandon this grim story. -- The New York Times Book Review, Ginger Danto

About the Author

Mary Gaitskill’s novel, Veronica, was nominated for a 2005 National Book Award and was one of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of 2005. She is also the author of the acclaimed novels Because They Wanted To and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. Her stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories (1993), and The O. Henry Prize Stories (1998). Her short story “Secretary” was the basis for the film of the same name. She lives in New York.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (February 27, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684843129
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684843124
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.81 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 128 ratings

About the author

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Mary Gaitskill

Mary Gaitskill

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Mary Gaitskill is the author of the novel Veronica, a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award and named one of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of 2005. She is also the author of a short-story collection and the acclaimed novels Because They Wanted To and Two Girls, Fat and Thin. Her stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories (1993), and The O. Henry Prize Stories (1998). Her short story "Secretary" was the basis for the film of the same name.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
128 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bookish2
5.0 out of 5 stars Honest, Humane, Darkly Funny
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
This novel, Gaitskill's first, is told from the point of view of the two main characters, Dorothy Never (born Dotty Footie - many of the names in this book are oddly comical) and Justine Shade, the fat and thin girls of the title. Dotty speaks in the first person and her chapters are more talky and confiding, but Justine's chapters, told in close third-person, are equally affecting, if not more so because of the ostensible detachment of the narrative voice, which, ironically, felt more immediate and intimate at times than Dotty's "I am"/"I was" chapters.

From the first to the final page, this is an engrossing novel. We watch these two women, both sexually abused in their girlhood, become allies despite their very different lives and sensibilities. Justine has unsatisfactory, sometimes abusive relationships with men; Dorothy has had almost none. They are both smart, judgmental, emotionally at sea, unable to connect to other people for friendship or for romantic love.

Gaitskill's facility and fluency with language, her impressive & enviable ability to create a character as real seeming as someone you've known well for years, her brisk pacing, her willingness also to create fictional doubles of Ayn Rand and Rand's followers - these are all impressive elements of this novel and have me thinking still about this unusual, virtuosic book.
6 people found this helpful
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Jose Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars Sharply and brilliantly insightful.
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2007
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Reading Mary Gaitskill is like reading Kathryn Harrison's prolix sister.

This book tells the tale of two damaged women who coincidentally meet and after doing so reexamine their pasts, which include sexual trauma and unstable family situations.

Though Gaitskill's prose occasionally reads like a psychology textbook, she thrills the reader with sparkling, profound insight into the cruel hothouse of sexuality and confusion her characters grow up in. One girl, the overweight one, is friendless and lonely; the other, the thin one, is pretty, popular, and indulges in a mean streak, though certain early encounters in her life have mixed up the wiring in her brain and made her a masochist.

I didn't think the book was quite as interesting when dealing with the characters as adults (in particular the overweight woman, Dorothy), and the ending left a little something to be desired, but Gaitskill is unrivaled in her ability to put you right into the minds of her wounded characters, and lay bare the world they live in (internally and externally).

Despite getting a little soft in the end, I thought this was a brilliant book at showing the trace-line from what happens to us as children and how our confused, uncomprehending, inchoate, not-yet-mature-enough-to-understand thoughts and reasoning colors who we are and what we do for the rest of our lives.
6 people found this helpful
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Ms. Russell
3.0 out of 5 stars I figured I would fall in love with this novel as deeply as I did with ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2016
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Having devoured Gaitskill's work in the past, I figured I would fall in love with this novel as deeply as I did with her others. Don't get me wrong: This is a solid novel, and Gaitskill has a gift for writing the kind of characters that get under your skin and stay there until they're ready to claw out--which is akin to how the two leading characters live life. Dorothy's sexual abuse is drawn in shocking, heartrending detail, and the long-lasting aftereffects of sexual abuse and family dysfunction are portrayed with an astounding visceral sensibility. That being said, all in all this novel felt raw and unpolished, as if it were an earlier draft that was thrust into publication before Gaitskill had the time and luxury to make it more cohesive and fluid. Or, perhaps, that is her point: That perfection is an illusion, and the fragmented manner of storytelling is a direct reflection of her characters. Whatever the case may be, this is a dark, brutal work of psychological realism and social commentary that, despite its merits, has not made it to the list of books I would ever revisit.
6 people found this helpful
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Nan
5.0 out of 5 stars Mary Gaitskill
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2017
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Talented writer. Mary Gaitskill is a master of the craft of writing. I look forward to reading more of her writing.
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Anon
4.0 out of 5 stars nobody's exaggerating how depressing this book is
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2012
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I'm only 30 pages in and it's made me laugh, and it's almost made me cry. VERY CLOSE TO ACTUAL REAL WET TEARS COMING OUT OF MY EYEBALLS. (I HAVE READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HER OTHER BOOKS AND I KNOW THAT SHE CAN GET REALLY DEPRESSING, AND I THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE ALL THAT SADDER THAN THE REST, BUT JESUS YES IT IS! IT IS!!!!!!!!)
The only other book that put me in a mood like this while reading it was the autobiography of Charles Manson. They are similar.
I want MARY GAITSKILL to be MY best friend and cult leader! read everything she's ever written, she is amazing, that's all. just do it
3 people found this helpful
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diana t meyers
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2017
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Brilliant dissection of body meaning. A necessary book.
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Julia
3.0 out of 5 stars Dark book
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2018
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The book is so dark
One person found this helpful
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Jim28
4.0 out of 5 stars Great writing
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2018
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Moving portrait of loneliness
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Jess Munday
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2018
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