Peel me a Book
Let's Peel
Bad Behaviour
Sharp. Distant. Bruising.
Perfect if you want to be undone by a sentence you’re not sure you liked.
Synopsis
“There was a certain kind of girl who would always want to be hurt.” Gaitskill doesn’t warm you up. She slices into power, sex, shame, and emotional corrosion with surgical precision. Bad Behavior is a collection of stories that speak softly—and devastate completely. Desire here isn’t about pleasure.
It’s about control, silence, and everything we don’t admit out loud.
Mood:
cold · erotic · psychological · detached
Tone:
cold · surgical · elegant
It Feels Like
Body:
felt in the jaw, behind the eyes, and somewhere just beneath denial
Tempo:
slow, watchful, devastating
Texture:
glass under skin
A Little Taste
“I think people who have good parents come into the world with strength, ready to meet it, ready to love it. But people like me have to find it. We have to build it ourselves. I don’t even know how to begin.”
“People have normal relationships and go to sleep at night believing that someone loves them. I don’t think I’ve ever had that.”
The Aftertaste
A slow-building discomfort that’s more honest than cruel
Characters who don’t want your sympathy—but might take your silence
A kind of intimacy that’s anti-romantic and deeply real
Peel With a Drink
To Be Read With Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth — equal parts tension, ache, and restraint. It’s bold. It’s a drink that knows something about disappointment and elegance — which is exactly why it pairs so well with Bad Behaviour.
Not a cocktail for the faint of heart — or the overly hopeful.
Peel With a Reel
The Piano Teacher (2001, dir. Michael Haneke) A woman’s body becomes the site of control, desire, and quiet ruin.
Anatomy of Hell (2004, dir. Catherine Breillat) She hires him to watch—what follows is part erotic, part philosophical autopsy.
Peel with a Beat
Peel me a Book
Or Try:
Rachel Cusk
Cusk whispers what Gaitskill slices. Their styles contrast, but their truths bruise in the same places.
Let's Peel
Bad Behaviour
Sharp. Distant. Bruising.
Perfect if you want to be undone by a sentence you’re not sure you liked.
Synopsis
“There was a certain kind of girl who would always want to be hurt.” Gaitskill doesn’t warm you up. She slices into power, sex, shame, and emotional corrosion with surgical precision. Bad Behavior is a collection of stories that speak softly—and devastate completely. Desire here isn’t about pleasure.
It’s about control, silence, and everything we don’t admit out loud.
Mood:
cold · erotic · psychological · detached
Tone:
cold · surgical · elegant
It Feels Like
Body:
felt in the jaw, behind the eyes, and somewhere just beneath denial
Tempo:
slow, watchful, devastating
Texture:
glass under skin
A Little Taste
“I think people who have good parents come into the world with strength, ready to meet it, ready to love it. But people like me have to find it. We have to build it ourselves. I don’t even know how to begin.”
“People have normal relationships and go to sleep at night believing that someone loves them. I don’t think I’ve ever had that.”
The Aftertaste
A slow-building discomfort that’s more honest than cruel
Characters who don’t want your sympathy—but might take your silence
A kind of intimacy that’s anti-romantic and deeply real
Peel With a Drink
To Be Read With Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth — equal parts tension, ache, and restraint. It’s bold. It’s a drink that knows something about disappointment and elegance — which is exactly why it pairs so well with Bad Behaviour.
Not a cocktail for the faint of heart — or the overly hopeful.
Peel With a Reel
The Piano Teacher (2001, dir. Michael Haneke) A woman’s body becomes the site of control, desire, and quiet ruin.
Anatomy of Hell (2004, dir. Catherine Breillat) She hires him to watch—what follows is part erotic, part philosophical autopsy.