Baby Doll

by Mykola Dementiuk
edited by Sally Miller

Mykola Dementiuk has again brought us an unusual story of a youth growing up in New York City. Skipping school as a daily routine, the main character of Baby Doll finds himself spending time at the East River Park, looking for girls. Instead he finds a pair of pink underwear which take him on an adventure that shapes his future.

Baby Doll gives us a literary look at the complicated psychodynamics of love and sex between a boy and a man in America in the early ’80s (the beginning era of AIDS, sex-offender witch-hunts, and gay/transvestite visibility). Like a good movie, Baby Doll is definitely worth giving a second (or third) read. Mykola’s mastery at storytelling and excellent writing will keep you engaged the first time through, but subsequent readings will help you understand the complex forces that unfold between the characters. You may question his opinions on femininity and relationships, but you won’t be able to ignore Mykola’s love for words as well as his understanding of a boy’s feelings and behavior.

Sexual counselor Sally Miller provides some insight into the story in the afterword.

Baby Doll is the second in a series of chapbooks by Mykola Dementiuk to be published by Synergy Press in 2006. Look for the next one, a collection of short stories, just in time for summer reading!

5.5″ x 8.5″ 56 pages, saddle-stitched.
$12 postpaid, $8 when ordered with any other Synergy Book from Synergy Book Service.

Reviews

I loved BABY DOLL. Certainly not a pornographic novel. The idea of such a relationship could be erotic, but the sex was the farthest thing from my mind when I read. It made sex an ugly thing, and I really hated that guy. Such insight into the complexity of that kind of relationship. ~Bob Bahr, Factor Press