Julia Slavin

Stories of flying monkeys, Quiditch, and trips down the rabbit hole; these are all prime examples of exotic writing which stays with the reader. The far cry from normal life found within different famous writings appeals to readers. It gives the writing a resounding edge, while maintaining an apropos significance. Julia Slavin is one of those great writers who is unafraid to take her readers to the edge of reason.

Julia Slavin, the author of “Carnivore Diet” and “The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club,” was born in Maryland in 1960. She was the youngest amongst four brothers. She states that when she was younger she almost felt invisible. As she grew older, she discovered that writing was a way for her to be heard (Autori).

She graduated with a degree in History and shortly after decided to move to New York. She then decided that what she really wanted to do was write. She landed a job as a producer of ABC’s television show Prime Time Live. Slavin soon left New York and moved to Washington D.C. with her husband, which is where they currently live with their two children. She has won a few awards for her pieces. “She won a Pushcart Prize and the Frederick Exley Fiction Award, both in 1999” (Autori).

Julia Slavin is best recognized for her use of metaphors. They are colorful and most times, incredibly bizarre. She once said “‘I take a metaphor a step too far’” (Renshaw). When describing why her metaphors are so outrageous she stated, “I wanted to write about passion, all-consuming passion, and addiction. The best way to suggest their enormity is through these wild, excessive metaphors” (Renshaw). In her first collection of short stories titled, “The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club”, she tells ludicrous stories of a woman who grows teeth all over her body, a woman who cuts off her leg due to intense mosquito bites, and a woman who swallows a man whole.

"The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club"

Slavin chooses to write her stories with preposterous exaggerations to make her point easily understood. Subtlety is not Julia Slavin’s strong point. She has been noted for using a continuous hyperbole of everyday emotions to exemplify the extravagant emotions people have which make them take action in everyday life. In a recent interview, Slavin was asked about her repeated use of fear and passion in her writings to which she responded, “I think fear keeps us out of trouble, and passion causes us to do things we wouldn’t normally do, dangerous, self-destructive things. I think my characters are trying to break the bonds of safety because in their safety there’s loneliness, the death of feeling” (Renshaw). Slavin writes about people being outside of their normal and safe lifestyles, so her writings also are outside of the normal and safe style.

What is interesting about her collection of stories is that the basis of these plots come from many of Slavin’s personal experiences. For example, in the short story, “Swallowed Whole,” a woman swallows a man due to intense hormones and desire for this man. Slavin claims that she once had a huge crush on a young man who used to mow her lawn. She wanted to write about this “overwhelming, unquenchable desire” as she describes it. Also in “Rare is a Cold Red Center,” she talks about the time she spent working in a restaurant throughout high school. The characters in the story are much like the people that she had worked with (Renshaw). The fact that she takes experiences from her personal life helps to connect her to her readers.

Julia Slavin has also written a novel in which continues this use of absurd metaphors. She began writing her first novel, “Carnivore Diet”, shortly after the publication of her first book of short stories, “The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club”. A novel possessed a new challenge because absurdity in a short story can be taken and interpreted, but to continue the absurdity for over 200 pages, it can easily be lost on a reader. Slavin had to write with character development and purpose that she had not had to previously consider to such an extent.



“Carnivore Diet” is a very unpredictable novel about a monstrous creature that they call the “chagwa.” Slavin writes about a drug abusing mother, Wendy, whose ex-congressman, husband, Matt, is imprisoned for possible political corruption. Wendy and Matt’s son, Dylan, is a child actor who plays a rat named, Harlan. As Wendy is trying to live a normal life with her son while her husband is in jail, the “chagwa” plants itself right outside their back door. The creature begins stalking Dylan, while killing almost everyone else in sight. Wendy spends her time trying to convince people to kill this horrible creature, but no one will budge. This book is very up and down, with many random and unpredictable incidents. There are many characters that come and go throughout the plot, which makes it difficult to follow as well. She explores many different themes such as, gender roles and suburban lifestyles. “Slavin does an excellent job of taking the reader on Wendy’s roller coaster of panic through terrific dialogue and the use of minor characters as obstacles in her plan to capture and kill the chagwa” (Havel).

Her work in this novel is very diverse from any of contemporary writers. Although this novel is not very climatic and conventional, the process of getting there was definitely well worth it. Slavin showed in her book of short stories, “The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club”, that she was talented at constructing a world around a story and a convincing mix of actuality and fantasy. But with “Carnivore Diet”, she took this a step further. She is a very interesting writer with a mind of her own. Who could even predict what she’ll come up with next?



Works Cited

Autori, Gli. "Julia Slavin." Minimum Fax. 16 Oct. 2008. http://www.minimumfax.com/persona.asp?personaID=329

Havel, Amy. "Carnivore Diet by Julia Slavin." Small Spiral Notebook. 16 Oct. 2008. http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/bookreviews/2006/09/carnivore_diet_by_julia_slavin.shtml

Renshaw, Camille. "One on One with Julia Slavin. Pif Magazine. 16 Oct. 2008. http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/bookreviews/2006/09/carnivore_diet_by_julia_slavin.shtml

Created By:
Missy Feltz
Samantha Spieles
Katie Frisbee