‘Knockout Beauty and other Afflictions’, a page-turner for hearty laugh and reflection
A book review by Marivir Montebon
New York – I’ve read Knockout Beauty and other Afflictions (Crowsnest Books, 2023) twice before doing this review. Its wit and tempo – beautiful and brisk – are simply irresistible. Yet, it is weighty, substantial. I laughed as I turned its pages so quickly, like clicking on the next exciting episode of a favorite Netflix series.
Author Marina Rubin’s characters are insane and unforgettable. Jaula, the first chapter, caught my attention, and there was no putting the book down. Here the character of Daisy Maria Esperanza Ruiz gives a compelling spark, a struggling young writer who eventually becomes world-famous in the latter years, wounds up with the “most famous living Latin American writer.”
Marina Rubin is a Brooklynite and an acclaimed published writer in over 80 magazines and anthologies. (Photo of Rubin by Mudfish)
In the world of writers, back stories are juicier, but a “gentleman never tells.” Rubin naughtily gives readers a lot of room for imagination, with the explosion of Daisy’s laughter.
Rubin was born in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, and immigrated to the US in 1989 with her family. She is an associate editor of Mudfish, and a recipient of COJECO Blueprint Fellowship in 2013. She authored ‘Stealing Cherries’ which is a critically acclaimed flash fiction collection, also Ode to Hotel, Once, and Logic.
Knockout Beauty’s Man in a Fedora was a thriller that explored the honest friendship of two people from two different worlds, one shady and mysterious – Max Florentine who’s proud of his ancient Volvo, and the other, who’s quite a simple human. I felt sadness, excitement, and frustration in this chapter. I wished that the goddess Marina Rubin simply allowed them to cook trout in the kitchen. By this time in the book, I was totally basking in Rubin’s knockout storytelling power.
Marina Rubin’s lovely book dedication to this writer.
I laughed hard at Marigold in the You can live with this nose chapter, electrified at the all-embracing acceptance and ambience of an LGBTQ wedding in a synagogue. Then there’s Valentino, and a beloved mistress’s cringey embarrassment of wearing a spectacular red dress smartly bought from a thrift shop.
The Adirondacks will have a lasting imprint on me, as Rubin writes how an affliction leading to one’s demise is an opportunity for living.
Read Knockout Beauty and Other Afflictions, it is a gift to oneself. Rubin’s manner of writing is whimsical and magical as she swipes at life’s afflictions. Truly a knockout beauty, this book and the author. #
