The Animal Girl: Two Novellas and Three Stories

I enjoyed this book so much that I've already read it twice. Granted, I'm a bit inclined to enjoy a book where I can easily picture the characters and their location (I've lived in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan for 12 years now). However, Fulton does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the worlds of his characters. It's easy to feel the grief, questions, concerns that they all feel. It's easy to want to be mad at them for decisions they're making and actions they take. At the same time, though, there's a connection that arises that draws you in and just won't let go. You realize that these are people we all know, people we've met, and that the lives on the paper are ones that could easily exist in the "real" world. Fulton does an excellent job of portraying the emotions and feelings of his female characters. He truly understands what draws them to their conclusions and does so in such a way that the reader is left feeling a bit nostalgic that they've finished reading that portion of the book. One of my favorite parts was trying to figure out exactly where the characters were. For me, this helped a lot in terms of visualizing the scenery. However, I think I would have enjoyed it just as much without knowing this area as well as I do...substituting in the descriptions he provides. I have already recommended this book to my friends and highly recommend it to all of you! It's offered a peak into the lives of others who could easily be people I meet every day, and did so in a caring and enlightening way. Thank you, John!

The stories and novellas in The Animal Girl will haunt you long after you have closed its pages. I can't shake the image of Holly Morris in "Real Grief"--part girl, part woman, hysterically laughing at her grandmother's funeral, or the thoughtful chemist in "A Small Matter," impotent in the face of real male aggression. Fulton is equally at home in the adolescent and middle-aged psyche, where he takes his readers with unsentimental and yet heartbreaking precision. These 5 stories will fill you up, and leave you wanting more.