If You Liked The Big Door Prize, Then You’ll Like These Books
I have an issue with prophecy as it appears in literature and onscreen. My issue with prophecy is that it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. When people hear a prophecy about themselves, they react to it. In the case of Greek myth—or even Biblical stories—a prophesied destruction often leads the person into reacting in a way that they think will prevent that destruction… but really, in trying to avoid that outcome, they actually put it into motion. I am so, so glad that there’s a TV show that addresses my issue—and even recognizes the absurdity of the situation.
The Big Door Prize might be the best portrayal of magical realism that I’ve ever seen on television. And, even better, while the show is super smart and edgy, it’s also hilarious.
If you liked The Big Door Prize on AppleTV+, then you should definitely check out the below books.
At the moment of the Chernobyl disaster, nuclear physicist Anna Berkova travels forward in time to 1992 to see her estranged daughter Molly bleeding out. With her last breath, she begs Anna to go back in time to prevent a different disaster, the one that changed their family. Weirdly, Molly grew up in the 1960s, the time of the comic books when radiation made ordinary people into super heroes, and Molly draws her own comics called Atomic Anna. Throughout the book, different issues of Atomic Anna crop up, all cueing the characters into a metanarrative that overlays time. It’s more science fiction than magical realism, but I do love a historical fiction.
Mary Kay McBrayer is the author of America’s First Female Serial Killer: Jane Toppan and the Making of a Monster. You can find her short works at Oxford American, Narratively, Mental Floss, and FANGORIA, among other publications. She co-hosts Everything Trying to Kill You, the comedy podcast that analyzes your favorite horror movies from the perspectives of women of color. Follow Mary Kay McBrayer on Instagram and Twitter, or check out her author site here.