Toxicology by Jessica Hagedorn

Toxicology is the 4th novel I've read by Filipino-American writer and playwright, Jessica Hagedorn. Incidentally, Toxicology is also my 4th read of 2025. Hagedorn's writing is edgy, artsy, unique and quite a wild ride. If you haven't read any of her novels, then you're in for a treat!

Quite frankly, Toxicology wasn't what I was expecting. It is edgy, unique, and artsy as to be expected from Jessica Hagedorn, but not as engaging as her other novels. I liked the characters and the storyline for Toxicology, which is written in a unique voice only Jessica Hagedorn can bring to the table... BUT, some of the imagery just went over my head. I liked Toxicology, but it just didn't resonate with me like her previous novels did.

If you want to explore Jessica Hagedorn's writing, I wouldn't recommend starting with Toxicology. Try reading Dogeaters or The Gangster of Love instead.

Below is the publisher's summary for Toxicology by Jessica Hagedorn found Amazon's website:

A bold new novel about the intersection of art, love, fame, and money from the acclaimed author of Dogeaters.

Jessica Hagedorn's edgy and entertaining new novel centers on the lives of two women who are neighbors in Manhattan's West Village. Mimi Smith is a filmmaker of low-budget slasher movies in search of new material. Her neighbor Eleanor Delacroix is a legendary writer of erotic fiction, now nearing eighty and addicted to cocaine and gin. Their personal and artistic lives begin to collide in unexpected ways as Eleanor grieves over the recent death of her live-in lover, the renowned painter Yvonne Wilder, and as Mimi deals with the challenges presented by her newly sober brother Carmelo; her drug-dealing boyfriend, who has mysteriously disappeared; and her wayward fourteen-year-old daughter, Violet. Looming over all these characters is the ghost of Agnes-an "illegal" and cousin of Mimi's who might have been murdered by her New Jersey employers. Toxicology is a dark yet playful exploration of money, desire, mortality, and the connection between creativity and self-destruction.

I am giving Toxicology by Jessica Hagedorn a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!