Earlier this week, I got thinking about my favourite lesbian erotic comedy,
Narcissist Seeks Narcissist. This particular novella takes me back to university, when I was researching a paper
about how women's magazines reinforce the same hegemonic heteronormative
structures they claim to buck.
There's one particular Q&A that sticks in my mind.
I read this advice column (it might even have been Dr.
Ruth, but don't quote me! It was definitely someone big.) where a woman wrote in, concerned because her
daughter was dating a girl.
The "advice" was all, "Oh, don't worry
about it. Teenaged girls are narcissistic and your daughter's not really attracted
to other girls, she's just expressing a displaced kind of self-love"
blah blah heterosexist pseudo-psychological bullshit BLAH.
I got a little worked up when I read that 10+ years ago. Even just thinking about it now, I'm still pissed off.
When I wrote Narcissist Seeks Narcissist (which stars an aging
model who really IS a narcissist), I was taking a bit of a stab at that
"advice" article. Comedy is the best revenge.
After that rambling introduction, here's some info about the book:
By: Giselle Renarde
Published By: New Dawning Bookfair
Published: Nov 04, 2011
ISBN # 9781466028388
Szuszu
the former model has survived on women and scotch since she was just a
teenager. All these years, she's had her best friend Babette by her
side, but now that Babette is married and setting off on a world tour,
Szuszu feels utterly abandoned. As a pre-departure joke, Babette writes
up a silly and snide little personal ad, which narcissistic Szuszu
posts in hopes of attracting a woman who looks just like she did when
she was young.
Naomi thinks Szuszu's post is hilarious
-- what a great sense of humor! She can hardly believe the centrefold
she stole from her dad's collection way back in the day is looking for
love. It's not like her to answer a personal ad, but for the infamous
Szuszu she'll make an exception. She thinks Szuszu looks fantastic, and
Szuszu (who refuses to wear her glasses) thinks Naomi looks just like
her. What could ensue but sex, love, and a whole lot of comedy?
Excerpt:
"What's
that you're scribbling, darling? It's about me, isn't it?" Szuszu
reached across the table, nearly knocking over her backup scotch and
soda. "Hand it over, Babs. Let's have a look."
Babette
pressed the cocktail napkin flush to her chest, setting down her slim
gold pen. "It's nothing, Szusz. Just my shopping list." She shook her
head, eyes wide, guilty as sin. "Just my groceries."
"Shopping!"
Szuszu cackled, knocked back the scotch in her hand, then slammed the
glass down on the table. "Darling, you haven't done the shopping since
you shacked up with that dairy cow you call a wife. You don't need to
shop -- just bend the old hausfrau over a bucket and you've got your
milk for free."
"Leave Matilda out of this." Babette shoved the cocktail napkin in her jacket pocket.
"Ah!"
Gazing across the table through the amplifying lens of an empty scotch
glass, Szuszu pointed to Babette's chest. "There! I see what you've
written. It's all smeared across your tits, darling." Squinting, she
tried to make out the loopy handwriting smudged on Babette's skin.
"noitaroda… lautum… rof… What is that, darling, Latin? Or have you had a
stroke?"
Babette glanced down at the writing on her
chest, wetting another serviette with Szuszu's next scotch and rubbing
it over the pen marks. "It's backwards, darling. It's an imprint, you
know." After setting the wet serviette down on the table, she pulled
the dry one from her pocket. "Fine, then. Fine, if you're so curious.
Here it is. That's what I wrote."
Squinting at the
flimsy square of paper, Szuszu held it up close and then away from
herself, but the words still wouldn't come into focus.
"I think you need to get yourself a good pair of specs, Szusz."
Szuszu's
eyes twitched at the blasphemy. "Nobody wears glasses, darling, except
librarians and Elton John. I was a model, you know."
"Yes,
I know, Szusz. Everybody knows." Babette rolled her eyes like a
teenager. "You do realize you've gone up to every person in this bloody
lounge to tell themI was a model?"
"Well, I was on the cover of all the magazines in my day."
"In your day, right, you were. Headlines read: War is over. Szuszu greets sailors at port."
An
overwhelming desire came over Szuszu to kick her dearest friend in the
shins, but when she let loose, her snakeskin boot met the cylinder of
metal holding up the table. "Oh, for Christ sake," she moaned, rubbing
her toe. "If I wasn't legless, I bet that would smart." Defeated, she
handed the napkin back across the table. "Here, read this for me, Babs.
I can't see straight."
"Can't even think straight,"
Babette mumbled. "All right then, you want to know what I wrote while
you were babbling on about your glory days? I wrote up a personal ad,
darling: Narcissist seeks narcissist for mutual adoration. Turn-ons
include mirrors, soup spoons, darkened windows, and other reflective
surfaces. Must enjoy photo albums, the sound of her own voice, and
endlessly reliving days of cover girl glory. Doppelgangers will receive
preferential treatment--see attached photo. Looks trump substance.
Models preferred. Serious enquiries only."
When Babette
had finished reading from the serviette, Szuszu offered weak applause.
"So you're going to dump the dairy cow after all these years. Good
show, darling. It's about time."
Babette's ears turned
bright red and she shook her head. "I am not dumping anybody. This ad
isn't for me--it's for you. You're the narcissist, darling. You're the
one unlucky in love."
"Luck has nothing to do with it,
Babs." Szuszu polished off the last of her scotch and held up her glass
for more. "I'm not like you, darling. I don't buy into your little
cult of Noah's Ark, everyone in neat little pairings."
"It's hardly Noah's Ark if it's full of lesbians," Babette muttered.
---
Narcissist Seeks Narcissist is Available Now from:
Hugs,
Giselle
--
Giselle Renarde
Canada just got hotter!
Visit me online
http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com
http://www.wix.com/gisellerenarde/erotica
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