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51
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
25/100Critics
77/100Scholars
Author:
Gina Nutt
Publisher:
Two Dollar Radio
Date:
March 23, 2021
A meditation on anxiety and depression, suicide, body image, identity, grief, and survival. Whether competing in shopping mall beauty pageants, reflecting on childhood monsters and ballet lessons, or recounting dark cultural ephemera while facing grief and authenticity in the digital age, Gina Nutt's shifting style echoes the sub-genres that Night Rooms highlightsâspirit-haunted slow burns, possession tales, slashers, and revenge films with a feminist bent.
What The Reviewers Say
Gina Nutt's Night Rooms is a collection of biographical essays in which memories and movies—mostly horror ones—merge to create a narrative that explores identity, body image, fear, revenge, and angst. Jumping between past and present with ease, Nutt slashes to the center of issues like motherhood and depression and ultimately emerges as the quintessential final girl of her own film.
What do you get when you take a grouping of personal essays, infuse them liberally with horror and other pop culture references, then sprinkle in a dash of ‘90s nostalgia? The answer is simple: the best new release this reviewer has read so far in 2021! With a stunningly original concept and precise execution, Gina Nutt’s debut essay collection Night Rooms is absolutely captivating! A series of compositions covering the landscape of a life in progress, Night Rooms puts feelings to experiences in a way readers never would have imagined possible … and one they have likely never seen before! Nutt shies away from nothing in her writing, taking bold chances with both the structure and the way she lays herself bare to the reader.
Nutt is never explicit, never spells it out. Rather, she lets the images do the work. 'That a shore exists—even if its line doesn’t cross the horizon—is not likely a comfort to someone swimming in the middle of the ocean.' It’s haunting and beautiful. And it makes me feel sad and alone, like that sadness and loneliness will never end. It’s a metaphor that makes me feel rather than parse.
Poet Nutt (Wilderness Champion) spins a striking tale of survival and loss in this haunting essay collection.
