Cock and Bull
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Cock and Bull is the title of a volume composed of two novellas by Will Self, which includes the stories, Cock and Bull.
Plot summary
In Cock, a woman grows a penis and then uses it to rape her tedious, alcoholic husband and his patronising, evangelical mentor from Alcoholics Anonymous. In the story's final twist, the woman comes into non-consensual contact with her violating member, and makes allusions to the Ancient Mariner's Tale. In Bull, a sensitive homosexual rugby player grows a vagina and has an affair with his megalomaniacal general practitioner. At the same time that gender stereotypes are examined, much fun is made of literary criticism and its cliched takes on the gender debate. The two stories are characterized by empty, emotionless, phatic sex; rape; cruelty; and violence.