Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of mental illness, child sexual abuse, graphic violence, sexual content, illness, and death. Fear is a central motif throughout The Dangers of Smoking in Bed. It drives the <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Literary Device" href="https://www.supersummary.com/narrative/">narrative</a> and also serves as a lens through which Enriquez explores reactions to the grotesque, taboo, and uncanny horrors that populate the collection’s stories. In these stories, characters face abstract threats, like poverty, trauma, and gender discrimination, rather than immediate physical dangers. In response, their fears become misplaced or dislocated, manifesting as anxiety and paranoia.&nbsp; For example, <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Character" href="https://www.supersummary.com/the-dangers-of-smoking-in-bed/major-character-analysis/#768730">Josefina</a> in “The Well” experiences intense, debilitating fear that seems to have no apparent source. Similarly, Julieta in “Rambla Triste” is gripped by a seemingly irrational fear of the neighborhood, sensing something dark beneath its gentrified surface. These fears are not rooted in conventional horror tropes but rather in the characters’ recognition that the world is not what it seems. This is also true of the children in “Kids Who Come Back” or the spirit impersonating Pinocchia’s brother in “Back When We Talked to the Dead.” Although these beings aren’t overtly harmful, they inspire terror in their victims due to their link to traumatic pasts.

Fear

Ghost Children

The Female Body

Gender

Books that Feature the Theme of Femininity

Emotions & Behavior

Race & Ethnicity

Hispanic & Latinx American Literature

Fiction

Magical Realism

Psychological Fiction

The Best of "Best Book" Lists

Awards

The Booker Prizes Awardees & Honorees

Life & Time

The Past

Mariana Enríquez

Transl. Megan McDowell

Adult

Short Story Collection

Guide

Study Guide

Book Brief

Explore The Dangers of Smoking in Bed reviews, reading age recommendations, and essential genre and thematic details before you start reading.

About The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

title

content

Overview

Get ready to explore The Dangers of Smoking in Bed and its meaning. Our full analysis and study guide provides an even deeper dive with character analysis and quotes explained to help you discover the complexity and beauty of this book.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Summary and Study Guide

contentWarning

Background

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Background

chapter

chapterType

section

Story Summaries & Analyses

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death by suicide, child death, substance use, graphic violence, sexual content, cursing, illness, and death.

Stories 1-3

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Stories 1-3 Summary & Analysis

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of suicidal ideation and self-harm, child death, substance use, addiction, graphic violence, sexual violence, rape, child sexual abuse, mental illness, emotional abuse, and death.

Stories 4-6

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Stories 4-6 Summary & Analysis

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child sexual abuse, graphic violence, sexual violence, mental illness, emotional abuse, self-harm, sexual content, illness, and death.

Stories 7-9

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed Stories 7-9 Summary & Analysis

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child sexual abuse, child death, child abuse, graphic violence, physical abuse, substance use, addiction, sexual content, mental illness, emotional abuse, death by suicide, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and death.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

Symbols & Motifs

Related Titles

Featured Collections