 |
|
|
"One of childhood's more sobering initiations comes with the
discovery that Barbie's head pops off, she'll never wear flats, and her boyfriend
is a eunuch. A collection of poems and stories, Mondo Barbie dramatizes the
lasting impression this Lilliputian bombshell has made on post-boom generations.
In A.M. Homes' sidesplitting 'A Real Doll,' a boy lusts after his sister's fully
animated Barbie; John Varley's 'The Barbie Murders' features a futuristic colony
of ghoulish Barbie look-alikes; Rebecca Brown outs Barbie; and Gregg Shapiro
dresses like her. Considering its plastic catalyst, this is an imaginative and
curioulsy touching anthology. A-" | |
|
In 1991 Lucinda and Richard were looking for a collaborative project. They were going to readings and one day, they saw A.M. Homes read her story, "A Real Doll." They were touched by the tender way the brother fell in love with his sister's Barbie doll and more touched with the way he put Barbie's head in his mouth. When he found his sister chewing on Barbie's feet, he was appalled. So was Richard! He thought it was disgusting but as he looked around, he saw all the women nodding. Chewing Barbie feet was a common denominator among most girls. | |
|
A year later, in the same reading room at American University, Lucinda and Richard saw Denise Duhamel read from her chapbook, It's My Body. The chapbook was filled with Barbie poems. Richard looked at Lucinda and said the magic word, "Barbie. " An idea was born. Barbie was followed by Elvis was followed by Marilyn was followed by James Dean. They even did a literary survey of abortion. Rumor has it there will even be a Barbie II! But for now... | |
