Sarahland, Sam Cohen
Sarahland, Sam Cohen
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Sarahland

Author: Sam Cohen

Narrator: Suehyla El-Attar

Unabridged: 5 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/09/2021


Synopsis

"Queer, dirty, insightful, and so funny" (Andrea Lawlor), this coyly revolutionary debut story collection imagines new origins and futures for its cast of unforgettable protagonists—almost all of whom are named Sarah.

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2021 BY THE MILLIONS * OPRAH MAGAZINE * ELECTRIC LITERATURE * REFINERY29

In Sarahland, Sam Cohen brilliantly and often hilariously explores the ways in which traditional stories have failed us, both demanding and thrillingly providing for its cast of Sarahs new origin stories, new ways to love the planet and those inhabiting it, and new possibilities for life itself. In one story, a Jewish college Sarah passively consents to a form-life in pursuit of an MRS degree and is swept into a culture of normalized sexual violence. Another reveals a version of Sarah finding pleasure—and a new set of problems—by playing dead for a wealthy necrophiliac. A Buffy-loving Sarah uses fan fiction to work through romantic obsession. As the collection progresses, Cohen explodes this search for self, insisting that we have more to resist and repair than our own personal narratives. Readers witness as the ever-evolving "Sarah" gets recast: as a bible-era trans woman, an aging lesbian literally growing roots, a being who transcends the earth as we know it. While Cohen presents a world that will clearly someday end, "Sarah" will continue.

In each Sarah's refusal to adhere to a single narrative, she potentially builds a better home for us all, a place to live that demands no fixity of self, no plague of consumerism, no bodily compromise, a place called Sarahland.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sunny on April 17, 2021

weird and nasty queer girls and gays......more

Goodreads review by Wei on January 25, 2021

So smart and so funny, yet somehow also found myself crying from all kinds of complicated emotions many times while reading this book of short stories. I loved how I was surprised by where every sentence went -- every narrative, page, and phrase was its own adventure, and the prose is just so so so......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on March 18, 2021

Incredible. Magical. Brilliant. One of the best collections I’ve read. Real-life Sarah certified.......more

Goodreads review by Lydia on April 19, 2021

What a great read. I loved the different ways Sarah was casted. Funny, creative and captivating. I highly recommend. 4.05 · Rating details · 139 ratings · 47 reviews "Queer, dirty, insightful, and so funny" (Andrea Lawlor), this coyly revolutionary debut story collection imagines new origins and futu......more

Goodreads review by Sara on March 29, 2021

These stories were somehow gently and extremely weird all at the same time. There were moments in some of them that were so off-putting to me, but I literally could not stop reading. I found myself reading with my mouth gaping open in surprise at times, and completely memorized by the beauty of the......more