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Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
βIt is in the most surreal situations that a person feels the most present, the closest to reality.β An ingenious and effervescent collection of surreal stories that will definitely appeal to fans of Kevin Wilson, Helen Oyeyemi, and Hiroko Oyamada. Ling Ma has a knack for blending realistic dynamics and issues with absurdist ones, and,…
4 STARS, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, America, asian american, asian diaspora, belonging, Bliss Montage, books about writers, California, China, chinese american author, collection of short stories, Contemporary, creative writing seminars, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dreamlike quality, existentialism, female authors, heartbreak/breakups, interconnected stories, Ling Ma, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, los angeles, MAGICAL REALISM, motherhood, NEW YORK, office, parenting, playful style, portal fantasy, pregnancy, published in 2022, read in 2022, short stories, surreal, toxic relationships, unnamed country, weird -
Severance by Ling Ma
βTo live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. To wake up. To go to work in the morning. It is also to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?β Severance is an engrossing and, given the…
1st pov, 4 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, apocalyptic, asian american, China, chinese american author, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, cultural dissonance, dark humor, ennui, female authors, illness, Ling Ma, LITERARY FICTION, migration/immigration, millennial, mumblecore, near future/alternate reality, NEW YORK, no quotations marks, office, pandemic, post-apocalyptic, pregnancy, published in 2018, re-reads, read in 2020, read in 2022, sardonic humor, satire, Severance, SPECULATIVE FICTION, surreal, survival, the female malaise, work culture
luce [is reading] 