Biography of X

Let's first tackle the elephant in the room: is Biography of X sexist? Well, yes. Yes, it is. Largely in the same vein as early twentieth century science fiction tended to be overly simplistic and reductive in developing female characters, the large majority of male characters in this novel are two-dimensional hyperbolised caricatures, perfectly placed to carry the weight of blame and fault. And that's alright, I get it.

That out of the way, what Catherine Lacey does in this novel is nothing short of impressive, both in building an alternate history version of the US that some would consider too possible for comfort, and simultaneously digging through the emotional stack of a main character, exposing her strengths and weaknesses, fears and motivations, as she unravels the life's mysteries of her departed wife. Catherine does so with an elegance and simplicity of prose, and a sincerity of feeling that is uncommon in genre writing.

Biography of X aims to be a cautionary tale of geopolitical scale, but where it succeeds the most is at studying the complexity of human beings - the layers of motivation, drive, fear, hypocrisy, and fallacies that compose us; the walking, talking paradoxes that we are.

At that, it succeeds in spades.

A multilayered and ambitious book that explores the public persona and personal life of a fictional eccentric celebrity artist through the eyes of her widow, who knew little about her late wife's past. The worldbuilding isn't perfect, but it's not lacking to the point of distraction. The author did a marvelous job in constructing X's complex personality and her troubled relationships with the people But the depiction of X as a magnetic figure instantly impressing everyone she met, felt overly convoluted and unrealistic. Also, the book often seemed far too long, with sections devoted to either describing X's god complex or showing how everyone seemed to be in awe of her.
Great concept, but not without flaws.
3.75/5

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey is a fictional biography of a fictional woman who's life was so many fictions, but perhaps therein lies the truth. Set in an alternative version of the past, but maybe offering a chilling speculation about our present and future, the narrator sets out to write a biography of her late wife, the artist/writer known as X. Against the dystopian backdrop of a recently reunified US, the author goes on a quest citing numerous interviews and sources to unravel the complex and convoluted string of identities X had played throughout her life in an attempt to document her life...calling into question how well she had truly known her and even the nature of knowing another, and maybe even the self. This is a very literary book, much more so than my usual reading. I picked it up because of the dystopian elements found in the Southern Territories and Former Southern Territories, which reminded me of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. These were my favorite parts of the book, even if some aspects of the execution did seem a bit heavy-handed. Otherwise I found the cast of characters and numerous complicated ideas throughout the text to be a bit confusing, though Lacey generally did a good job of grounding the abstract in the human.   

This was confusing asf because the footnotes made me think this was real for like...15% of this. But I loved it.

I liked the characterization of X. Just the most pretentious motherfucker you've ever met that people still somehow love. For a lot of the book, that was what I thought was her biggest fault. She was just an annoying pretentious artist. But once we learn about some of the psychological and even physical abuse, this book transformed into something different and idk how to explain it. Things that seemed obscure and even quirky about X suddenly became a lot darker. I think we hear a lot about “tortured” artists being actual snobs and horrible people. X was no different, which I'm sure she would berate you for saying. At times, I almost found it funny how much of a facade she was putting up...trying to act artsy and profound when really she just wanted her art appreciated without any scrutiny or criticism like the rest of us. Interesting character though I don't ever think we got to see a moment of her with her guard down. Even in more intimate moments, she was still pretending. Her thoughts on the past you being a different person was different. Though her disguises were an obvious attempt to flee, to run away from criticism and challenge. Again, well-written but very frustrating character. I still do not know her. Honestly though, my only wish was that the narrator would get really fucking angry. I wanted anger. She kept telling me it was there, but I didn't see it.

Catherine Lacey's ability to create an entirely new American history out of thin air was the most impressive aspect of the book to me. I did not except to like the Southern/Western/Northern Territory parts to be as intriguing as it was. (Though I was confused why Southern Territory was “ST” but the other two were always written out. Idk why or how I noticed that but either it's an error or a choice. If it's a choice, I'm not sure why.)

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A lot of it went over my head, I'm sure. This was not a perfect 5 star for me, but was pretty close to it!