Motion Sickness (Inanna Poetry & Fiction Series)

Fiction. MOTION SICKNESS is a flash novel consisting of 55 chapters of exactly 500 words, each accompanied by a scratchboard illustration, that follows one young woman's misadventures in the worlds of employment, friendship, dating, birth control and abortion. Penelope, the twenty-year-old narrator, is a guitarist who writes some lyrics, has a social conscience and a former drug habit. She finds herself alone when her roommate goes to Calgary. At the same time she is increasingly attracted to Theo, a slightly older, married bass player with whom she develops an intimate but non-sexual relationship. In between birth control methods she finds herself pregnant after a drugged threesome with the very sexy but potentially violent Stan, who quickly becomes a frightening stalker after she has an abortion. Theo remains a stable anchor, and it becomes increasingly clear to both of them as well as to Theo's wife that their intimacy is not to be ignored. This is a smart and engaging novel with subtle magical realist and slipstream elements.