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Things to Make and Break
A motorcycle courier finds a cache of nude photos in her boyfriend’s desk. The daughter of East German emigrants encounters her doppelgänger, who has crossed another cultural divide. Twin brothers fall for the same girl. When a stripper receives an enigmatic proposal from a client, she accepts, ignorant of its terms.
Shadows, doubles, and the ghosts of past and future lovers haunt these elegantly structured and often hallucinatory stories. The language is hypnotic, deadpan, intense; the sentences jewel-hard and sublime. This marks the début of a stylish, exuberant new voice in modern fiction.
Shadows, doubles, and the ghosts of past and future lovers haunt these elegantly structured and often hallucinatory stories. The language is hypnotic, deadpan, intense; the sentences jewel-hard and sublime. This marks the début of a stylish, exuberant new voice in modern fiction.
206 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2014
23 people are currently reading
1410 people want to read
About the author
May-Lan Tan
2 books42 followersMay-Lan Tan is the author of the story collection Things to Make and Break (shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2014) and the chapbook Girly. She lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
October 24, 2014
This was simply amazing.
I met May-Lan Tan at a book reading. Things that are embarrassing: telling an author you came to the reading because you love magical realism and short stories only to find out that her book has absolutely nothing to do with magical realism.
But she handled it gracefully which made me like her even more.
This collection of short stories is gritty and lovely all at the same time. They felt so real to me: the writing beautiful, somehow both lyrical and direct.
At her reading, May-Lan explained that she was exploring relationships in this book, and not just straightforward relationships between two people. She wanted to take a look at relationships between two people that are impacted by a third person: triangles and triangles upon triangles. Having heard this from her then reading it really added a lot for me.
I met May-Lan Tan at a book reading. Things that are embarrassing: telling an author you came to the reading because you love magical realism and short stories only to find out that her book has absolutely nothing to do with magical realism.
But she handled it gracefully which made me like her even more.
This collection of short stories is gritty and lovely all at the same time. They felt so real to me: the writing beautiful, somehow both lyrical and direct.
At her reading, May-Lan explained that she was exploring relationships in this book, and not just straightforward relationships between two people. She wanted to take a look at relationships between two people that are impacted by a third person: triangles and triangles upon triangles. Having heard this from her then reading it really added a lot for me.
June 7, 2017
Legendary: . "Every one of his exes have a thing - they've been molested or are a cellist or something"
This is a story about a couple who live together, the male tells the female tales about his ex lovers and she becomes obsessed with one named Holly who is a traipse artist. It was an OK story but didn't really go anywhere! 3 stars!
Date Night:
. "I'm watching an infomercial for spray-on hair for baldies and picking a scab on my knee when I hear the lift stop on our floor".
I really loved this story, we start off with a mother and daughter in a flat and the mother is about to go out on a date with a man she met on the internet, she leaves her 8 year old child with the new maid and they begin to bond. A quiet, humours and sweet little story! 4 stars
101:
"I wasn't wearing lenses that night in the pool. You were blurred at arms length; your edges sharpening as you drew near".
I loved this story, a quick little story about a summer romance that ends as quickly as it started, I was really rooting for the couple, it was full of emotion and tenderness & I could really feel the sun on my skin the whole time I was reading this!! 4.5 stars :)
Julia K:
"One night it was almost morning. I could almost see her, every sentence a necklace she was pulling out her mouth, tangled in smoke."
I really didn't like this story, I know this is a realist collection but this felt like it was a magical realism story there was a lot of symbolism & it was very wordy compared to the others, it felt a bit out of place in this collection. This is a weird story about a stripper who signs a contract and doesn't realise what she has let herself in for. This story was a bit of a dud and I didn't really get it. 2 stars!
DD-MM-YY:
"Marc and Coney were always making out in front of me. It kind of killed me and I asked her to choose".
So this story got the collection back on track! This is a story about a love triangle between a set of twins and their childhood friend! It was such a page turner for me and I wished there had been more, it explored the complicated relationship between all three characters each who were all flawed! Great story 4 stars.
Laurens:
"B0th have boys' names for surnames and live off interstate 10 in towns that have girls names!"
This has been my favourite story in the collection so far absolutely loved it! It's about to children called Lauren, one male one female, both have fractured relationships with there fathers, both end with heart wrenching consequences. Such a powerful story, I had a feeling that the first part would end the way it did but was hoping it wouldn't!! 5 stars!
This is a story about a couple who live together, the male tells the female tales about his ex lovers and she becomes obsessed with one named Holly who is a traipse artist. It was an OK story but didn't really go anywhere! 3 stars!
Date Night:
. "I'm watching an infomercial for spray-on hair for baldies and picking a scab on my knee when I hear the lift stop on our floor".
I really loved this story, we start off with a mother and daughter in a flat and the mother is about to go out on a date with a man she met on the internet, she leaves her 8 year old child with the new maid and they begin to bond. A quiet, humours and sweet little story! 4 stars
101:
"I wasn't wearing lenses that night in the pool. You were blurred at arms length; your edges sharpening as you drew near".
I loved this story, a quick little story about a summer romance that ends as quickly as it started, I was really rooting for the couple, it was full of emotion and tenderness & I could really feel the sun on my skin the whole time I was reading this!! 4.5 stars :)
Julia K:
"One night it was almost morning. I could almost see her, every sentence a necklace she was pulling out her mouth, tangled in smoke."
I really didn't like this story, I know this is a realist collection but this felt like it was a magical realism story there was a lot of symbolism & it was very wordy compared to the others, it felt a bit out of place in this collection. This is a weird story about a stripper who signs a contract and doesn't realise what she has let herself in for. This story was a bit of a dud and I didn't really get it. 2 stars!
DD-MM-YY:
"Marc and Coney were always making out in front of me. It kind of killed me and I asked her to choose".
So this story got the collection back on track! This is a story about a love triangle between a set of twins and their childhood friend! It was such a page turner for me and I wished there had been more, it explored the complicated relationship between all three characters each who were all flawed! Great story 4 stars.
Laurens:
"B0th have boys' names for surnames and live off interstate 10 in towns that have girls names!"
This has been my favourite story in the collection so far absolutely loved it! It's about to children called Lauren, one male one female, both have fractured relationships with there fathers, both end with heart wrenching consequences. Such a powerful story, I had a feeling that the first part would end the way it did but was hoping it wouldn't!! 5 stars!
January 29, 2019
“They’ll probably force me to hold her and breathe her scent. I think I’m lucky. Most people never know exactly what they’ve missed.”
A stunning debut collection of quietly impactful, elegantly written short stories about inner lives and torments, about relationships, tensions, loneliness, identity. There is something disarming, visceral and vulnerable about each one, and I really admire a writer who can write such stories that are short but accomplished and with depth. She writes from various perspectives - genders, sexuality, the different points in people’s lives - and this keeps everything from blending together. It feels like a cohesive collection, and yet there is an individuality to each and always something to ponder upon. Among some of my favourites were Legendary, Date Night, 101, and Would Like To Meet.
I hadn’t really heard about the author May-Lan Tan before. Her bio was very short! Born in Hong Kong, where her family had emigrated to Indonesia, she lived in California and London before now living in Berlin. She studied fine arts at Goldsmiths and has worked a variety of roles, including personal chef, medical secretary, and a ghostwriter. I’m looking forward to reading any interviews she has done, and am very much excited to read what she writes next!
Also, I had a copy of this but couldn’t resist this edition by sceptrebooks with wonderfully moody cover art by juncenart ! 😍
A stunning debut collection of quietly impactful, elegantly written short stories about inner lives and torments, about relationships, tensions, loneliness, identity. There is something disarming, visceral and vulnerable about each one, and I really admire a writer who can write such stories that are short but accomplished and with depth. She writes from various perspectives - genders, sexuality, the different points in people’s lives - and this keeps everything from blending together. It feels like a cohesive collection, and yet there is an individuality to each and always something to ponder upon. Among some of my favourites were Legendary, Date Night, 101, and Would Like To Meet.
I hadn’t really heard about the author May-Lan Tan before. Her bio was very short! Born in Hong Kong, where her family had emigrated to Indonesia, she lived in California and London before now living in Berlin. She studied fine arts at Goldsmiths and has worked a variety of roles, including personal chef, medical secretary, and a ghostwriter. I’m looking forward to reading any interviews she has done, and am very much excited to read what she writes next!
Also, I had a copy of this but couldn’t resist this edition by sceptrebooks with wonderfully moody cover art by juncenart ! 😍
July 3, 2018
I enjoyed the stories in this collection well enough while I was reading it, but as soon as I put it down I found myself struggling to remember the entire first half of the collection. So I'm guessing this doesn't bode well for the remainder of the stories at a later date. Oh, and there was some really bad sex writing in this.
Favourite stories: Candy Glass, Transformer.
Favourite stories: Candy Glass, Transformer.
March 18, 2019
May-Lan Tan's story are meant to be more absorbed in a sensory way than they are meant to be understood in a traditional linear fashion. They're full of smells, sounds, tastes, and the kind of human interactions that clang against each other and gives you a nervous knot in your stomach. The stories, Legendary, DD-MM-YY, Transformer, and Would Like to Meet, are all stunning highlights in this collection by one of my contemporary favorites.
March 24, 2018
2.5 stars
This is a major case of "it's not you, it's me". These stories all had the potential of being amazing short pieces of fiction, they were just being read by the wrong person.
The writing style had a matter-of-fact quality, it was direct and (sometimes) felt flat. Also, some of these stories were just plain weird.
Fave story: Candy Glass.
This is a major case of "it's not you, it's me". These stories all had the potential of being amazing short pieces of fiction, they were just being read by the wrong person.
The writing style had a matter-of-fact quality, it was direct and (sometimes) felt flat. Also, some of these stories were just plain weird.
Fave story: Candy Glass.
November 21, 2017
This collection was pretty ok. There is no question that May-Lan Tan can write. But despite the gorgeous writing, the stories themselves were sometimes not compelling. Tan seems to try really hard to make some of the stories reflect unconventional relationships. However, I personally found it really hard to connect or sympathize with the characters in those stories because they seemed to be defined by the quirk that was supposed to make their relationship memorable. It was in the stories that portrayed a less "out-there" relationship that I felt I could sympathize with the characters and see them as real characters rather than caricatures.
There are some gems in this collection, and Tan's writing style is expertly crafted. But many of the stories fell flat for me and ended up being uninteresting despite their quirks.
There are some gems in this collection, and Tan's writing style is expertly crafted. But many of the stories fell flat for me and ended up being uninteresting despite their quirks.
August 28, 2015
A fantastic collection. There is such startling precision to Tan's prose, an almost otherworldly sense of detachment working in perfect servitude to these bleak depictions of 21st Century existence. Spanning a range of differing locales, the stories all centre upon characters fraught with sexual dilemma – whether through insecurities regarding a lover’s previous partners; a child’s confusion over the correct way to play hide & seek initiated by their parent’s perversions; or the unfathomable shifts that cause partners to drift apart. Each story magnificently tackles facets that are immediately recognisable. A sinister streak pervades almost all of them, a sense of witnessing more than we can handle. Tan ignites an intense sense of intimacy between yourself, the reader, and every one of the narrators. Of course, it is this proximity that engages the reader, but one cannot help but feel tainted – in the best possible way. Honest! – as a direct result.
The book is incredibly readable, and on more than one occasion I could not help but reread immediately after completing a story. Each one is gripping, while simultaneously demonstrating the writer’s skill on display. You’ll be held breathless at Tan’s control of language. Despite an illusion of flint-like precision – a clarity that whisks you through each narrative – the prose is simply beautiful. It’s mature, multifaceted, rippling across the page with an illusionary sense of fluidity. On closer examination, however, it’s clear how much went into these works. A wordsmith’s dexterity embellishes every line. If you’ve been seeking short stories (no; a writer!) that will grip, inform, and transcend your expectations, then look no further. This is the real thing.
The book is incredibly readable, and on more than one occasion I could not help but reread immediately after completing a story. Each one is gripping, while simultaneously demonstrating the writer’s skill on display. You’ll be held breathless at Tan’s control of language. Despite an illusion of flint-like precision – a clarity that whisks you through each narrative – the prose is simply beautiful. It’s mature, multifaceted, rippling across the page with an illusionary sense of fluidity. On closer examination, however, it’s clear how much went into these works. A wordsmith’s dexterity embellishes every line. If you’ve been seeking short stories (no; a writer!) that will grip, inform, and transcend your expectations, then look no further. This is the real thing.
February 13, 2018
This collection of shorts has become so dear to me in such a short period of time that it has already crept into favorite territory. If I were to purge every book I have except for one, it would be this one, and furthermore I will recommend these stories forever.
My favorite stories were Legendary, Would Like to Meet, and 101. Honorable mention to Candy Glass.
Tan is a wordsmith, and her words work fucking hard. Her stories never have to choose between being gorgeous, or thoughtful, or eccentric, or absolutely devastating. The theme of relationships is clear in the collection, but what will stay with me more than those is their complexity and nuance. I can't say that I relate to many of these characters, but I can say without doubt that I needed them all. I need them all.
My favorite stories were Legendary, Would Like to Meet, and 101. Honorable mention to Candy Glass.
Tan is a wordsmith, and her words work fucking hard. Her stories never have to choose between being gorgeous, or thoughtful, or eccentric, or absolutely devastating. The theme of relationships is clear in the collection, but what will stay with me more than those is their complexity and nuance. I can't say that I relate to many of these characters, but I can say without doubt that I needed them all. I need them all.
May 3, 2014
This was so fucking good.
November 28, 2017
Read with a pen in-hand. You're going to be doing a fuckton of underlining.
November 15, 2015
May-Lan Tan is an imaginative, original, and fierce storyteller. She writes with a scalpel, precise and slicing. She's fearless. Her prose is beautiful and her characterization provocative. The truth of her stories is brutal. And if all of that doesn't persuade you to go read her, this might sway you: She also writes great sex.
December 3, 2018
language like light winking off sheet metal
July 12, 2024
a really lovely introduction to short stories. i was a little confused at first about what was happening but as time went on & i read other reviews, it all started to connect. all of these are stories about love, and not the good but that bad. so painfully messy too but all of them were so human and some were actually so heartbreaking but very honest
a little bit more vulgar than i expected & a little jarring at times but the last few stories made up for it. transformer was absolutely beautiful and how i wish i could write about people. other favs: candy glass, laurens, would like to meet
a little bit more vulgar than i expected & a little jarring at times but the last few stories made up for it. transformer was absolutely beautiful and how i wish i could write about people. other favs: candy glass, laurens, would like to meet
November 26, 2018
Dallas Morning News, November 24, 2018
May-Lan Tan examines the oldest way humans seek connection in her intense, taut debut collection of short stories that revolve around sex — with a smattering of violence.
In "Legendary," a woman obsesses over her boyfriend's exes, particularly one who "shattered seventeen bones falling from a trapeze." In "101," the brother of the groom and sister of the bride form an instant, covert attraction that causes a permanent, secret wound. In "Candy Glass," written in the form of a film script, a movie star develops an attraction for her own stuntwoman.
In "Would Like to Meet," the most touching story in the collection, a burglar attacks a gift shop employee. She persuades him not to kill her by insisting, "I'm a failure. I've never done anything worthwhile or interesting. I'm necessary to no one. Please don't make it worse." She copes with her trauma by answering a personal ad from a married couple who seek an unusual connection.
In fiction that unsettles and surprises, May-Lan Tan writes with the authority of the cool, older kid smoking behind the school, startling you with tales of the unexplored world. (Coffeehouse Press, $16.95)
https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books...
May-Lan Tan examines the oldest way humans seek connection in her intense, taut debut collection of short stories that revolve around sex — with a smattering of violence.
In "Legendary," a woman obsesses over her boyfriend's exes, particularly one who "shattered seventeen bones falling from a trapeze." In "101," the brother of the groom and sister of the bride form an instant, covert attraction that causes a permanent, secret wound. In "Candy Glass," written in the form of a film script, a movie star develops an attraction for her own stuntwoman.
In "Would Like to Meet," the most touching story in the collection, a burglar attacks a gift shop employee. She persuades him not to kill her by insisting, "I'm a failure. I've never done anything worthwhile or interesting. I'm necessary to no one. Please don't make it worse." She copes with her trauma by answering a personal ad from a married couple who seek an unusual connection.
In fiction that unsettles and surprises, May-Lan Tan writes with the authority of the cool, older kid smoking behind the school, startling you with tales of the unexplored world. (Coffeehouse Press, $16.95)
https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books...
January 30, 2016
I absolutely loved this collection of short stories. Fresh, exciting writing that is also really precise and well written - Lan does not waste words. The stories all focus on human relationships in some way - the themes are often bleak and they usually focus on dysfunction of some kind, but somehow they also manage to remain upbeat, and (for me at least) they were never depressing. They were, however, sometimes startling or uncomfortable. There is quite a lot of explicit sex, which some people might find off putting I suppose, but it always felt it to be integral to the story and it wasn't particularly titillating. This is probably the best book of short stories I have read in the last year.
April 11, 2016
May-Lan Tan has a very detached way of writing, even those stories told in first person where lots of terrible or exciting things happen seemed removed from the action. I liked that about them. Most of them were absolutely amazing - Laurens, Legendary, Would Like to Meet (especially since this kind of happened to me). But a couple didn't work for me - too jumpy, too fast. I think it was the style rather than the content that I didn't like (Transformer, Julia K.). I was lucky enough to hear Tan speak about her writing and to give a reading from this book - and if you ever get the chance you should go. Everything is so controlled. Fascinating.
November 21, 2018
A couple of these stories were stellar. "Laurens" was my favorite; it went to a really unexpected place and I loved it. The rest were interesting and kept me reading, but I didn't always care about what they had to say, although I appreciated the diversity of relationships she portrayed. Tan is a gifted writer & some of her descriptions are pure poetry---"We drink the harbor lights and eat the salty air." (swoon!)
But sometimes these stories felt like exercises, like she was flexing her craft, showing the reader what she can do, trying a touch too hard to wow. Overall, a pick. She's talented and I will likely read whatever she follows this collection up with.
But sometimes these stories felt like exercises, like she was flexing her craft, showing the reader what she can do, trying a touch too hard to wow. Overall, a pick. She's talented and I will likely read whatever she follows this collection up with.
July 8, 2018
I absolutely loved this beautifully written and thought-provoking collection of short stories. The way May-Lan weaves colourful dynamics between characters is so skilful and intriguing. I completely devoured this amazing collection in a couple of sittings.
September 22, 2019
i read this book over a long span of time, stopping and starting. the common thread is that each time i picked it up and read it i would always say to myself, 'these are really good stories'. so, i am giving this book a 4.5.
it had lots of lesbianism and sex and good sentences.
it had lots of lesbianism and sex and good sentences.
July 1, 2018
Brilliant
July 4, 2020
valerie lent this to me it was goooood
September 30, 2018
Short stories that "evoke the microcosmic worlds every human relationship contains." Sounds good, right? Written by a fellow Tan. How awesome! Reality did not pan out that way.
The stories feel incomplete as if nothing is resolved, nothing completed. You turn the page to be confronted by the start of a new story, wondering when and how the last one ended without you realising. Or maybe I just don't understand the vague endings, their significance, or the actual point of the story.
They're stories about relationships, yes, but they also mostly graphic stories about sex, as if sex (of all stripes) is the only important thing in the term "human relationship", besides an overabundance of alcohol and drugs.
... as you can probably tell by now, I'm also too prudish for this book. *shrugs*
Note: I received a digital copy of this book via Edelweiss. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.
The stories feel incomplete as if nothing is resolved, nothing completed. You turn the page to be confronted by the start of a new story, wondering when and how the last one ended without you realising. Or maybe I just don't understand the vague endings, their significance, or the actual point of the story.
They're stories about relationships, yes, but they also mostly graphic stories about sex, as if sex (of all stripes) is the only important thing in the term "human relationship", besides an overabundance of alcohol and drugs.
... as you can probably tell by now, I'm also too prudish for this book. *shrugs*
Note: I received a digital copy of this book via Edelweiss. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.
December 24, 2017
A series of first-person short stories generally featuring middle- to upper-middle-class, college-age characters, although protagonists vary in sex, age, type, etc. Set in US, UK, Hong Kong. The two main topics of Things to Make and Break are family and (sexual) relationships.
“Legendary”, narrated by a youngish woman working as a motorcycle messenger, is the story of a relationship between two emotionally limited people. The narrator relates her obsession with her live-in boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend Holly, whom she begins to stalk, and her difficult love- and sex-life with her odd boyfriend. In “MM-DD-YY”, twin brothers Marc and Adam, both at college but studying different things, are home at their parents’ house. The arrival of Coney, a girl they both used to date, sets Adam to narrating their shared past, during which Coney, stoned, nearly killed them all in a car accident, and Marc fractured Adam’s nose upon learning that Coney and he were involved.
The narrator in “Julia K.” (not clearly a man, but I will write “he”) finds an old school-friend, Julia, living in the same block of cheap flats in England, and they have dinner. He meets her mother, who wears chador and has vowed silence, and learns about Julia’s experiences as a stripper. Julia also talks about being paid large amounts of money to allow herself to be nailed naked to a cross. (The narrator in “Tonight”, about a couple coming to grips with the fact that the narrator is a masochist, could also be either a man or a woman.)
“Lily” is about a little girl in Hong Kong whose single mother has just started to date, and the relationship Lily has with her Indonesian nanny. “101” is about a girl who sleeps with her brother-in-law-to-be at their siblings’ wedding, and terminates the subsequent pregnancy while her sister gives birth to a child conceived at practically the same time, so that the one’s marriage becomes a template for what the other has lost. “Transformer” is a slightly experimental story which gradually is revealed to be a series of vignettes about former lovers, their memories run together. The last story, “Would Like to Meet”, is about a shopkeeper whose attempts to bring some structure to her life by answering a personal ad for a woman to join a threesome. In the end, it is actually a marriage proposal of sorts, the wife terminally ill and looking to find someone the husband can love when she is gone.
The stories in Things to Make and Break are often engaging, generally (very) open-ended, strong on character and voice. “Legendary” is especially good: funny, thoughtful, smart. Although very little actually happens, there is a sense of real emotion in the face of difficult choices, but also of humor and kindness. The oddness of the characters is completely natural to the story and requires no special pleading (none is offered, to the author’s credit). The best feature of “Julia K.”, a bit of low-key surrealism set on a UK council estate, is the way the author makes Julia’s completely implausible speaking voice seem natural.
By comparison, “DD-MM-YY” is a bit of a letdown. There is still some of the same wit, but it’s buried under the sex-and-drugs approach in permavogue among zines, and all feels a bit facile, the problems pre-fabricated; the characters came to seem gimmicky, too, for that reason – how would the story be different if they were just brothers, not identical? I couldn’t think of anything meaningful. The voices were nicely done, but it’s a bit too cock-and-endless-balls for its own good (although I know that women writing hard-core sex is fashionable now, at least in the UK). “Candy Glass”, about movie people, is presented in the form of a screenplay, which also feels a bit forced. What is good about “Transformer” is better, I suspect, in live readings – on paper the conceit is perhaps a bit too clear, although the visceral honesty of the whole more than redeems it.
Tan fails to capture the voice of a 9-year-old, surprisingly, in “Lily” – she sounds about 20.
There’s perhaps a bit too much genre-hopping to give the sense of a really strong vision, but the stories are full, quirky, and lively, and often quite funny. Sometimes the voices get mixed (she thinks “main street” is the NY equivalent of the High Street, for example), but that’s fixable with some editing. Sometimes I think she has tried to be “country-neutral”, which weakens the sense of immediacy – and immediacy is the best thing about these stories.
This is at least as good as any collection of short stories I have read in a long time, and in some cases – “Legendary”, “Julia K”, “Would Like to Meet” – far better. Tan never lets the limitations of the genre limit her emotional ambition, and her characters are very real, very true. A small revelation is small, of course – but it’s a revelation nonetheless, and Tan makes you feel that.
“Legendary”, narrated by a youngish woman working as a motorcycle messenger, is the story of a relationship between two emotionally limited people. The narrator relates her obsession with her live-in boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend Holly, whom she begins to stalk, and her difficult love- and sex-life with her odd boyfriend. In “MM-DD-YY”, twin brothers Marc and Adam, both at college but studying different things, are home at their parents’ house. The arrival of Coney, a girl they both used to date, sets Adam to narrating their shared past, during which Coney, stoned, nearly killed them all in a car accident, and Marc fractured Adam’s nose upon learning that Coney and he were involved.
The narrator in “Julia K.” (not clearly a man, but I will write “he”) finds an old school-friend, Julia, living in the same block of cheap flats in England, and they have dinner. He meets her mother, who wears chador and has vowed silence, and learns about Julia’s experiences as a stripper. Julia also talks about being paid large amounts of money to allow herself to be nailed naked to a cross. (The narrator in “Tonight”, about a couple coming to grips with the fact that the narrator is a masochist, could also be either a man or a woman.)
“Lily” is about a little girl in Hong Kong whose single mother has just started to date, and the relationship Lily has with her Indonesian nanny. “101” is about a girl who sleeps with her brother-in-law-to-be at their siblings’ wedding, and terminates the subsequent pregnancy while her sister gives birth to a child conceived at practically the same time, so that the one’s marriage becomes a template for what the other has lost. “Transformer” is a slightly experimental story which gradually is revealed to be a series of vignettes about former lovers, their memories run together. The last story, “Would Like to Meet”, is about a shopkeeper whose attempts to bring some structure to her life by answering a personal ad for a woman to join a threesome. In the end, it is actually a marriage proposal of sorts, the wife terminally ill and looking to find someone the husband can love when she is gone.
The stories in Things to Make and Break are often engaging, generally (very) open-ended, strong on character and voice. “Legendary” is especially good: funny, thoughtful, smart. Although very little actually happens, there is a sense of real emotion in the face of difficult choices, but also of humor and kindness. The oddness of the characters is completely natural to the story and requires no special pleading (none is offered, to the author’s credit). The best feature of “Julia K.”, a bit of low-key surrealism set on a UK council estate, is the way the author makes Julia’s completely implausible speaking voice seem natural.
By comparison, “DD-MM-YY” is a bit of a letdown. There is still some of the same wit, but it’s buried under the sex-and-drugs approach in permavogue among zines, and all feels a bit facile, the problems pre-fabricated; the characters came to seem gimmicky, too, for that reason – how would the story be different if they were just brothers, not identical? I couldn’t think of anything meaningful. The voices were nicely done, but it’s a bit too cock-and-endless-balls for its own good (although I know that women writing hard-core sex is fashionable now, at least in the UK). “Candy Glass”, about movie people, is presented in the form of a screenplay, which also feels a bit forced. What is good about “Transformer” is better, I suspect, in live readings – on paper the conceit is perhaps a bit too clear, although the visceral honesty of the whole more than redeems it.
Tan fails to capture the voice of a 9-year-old, surprisingly, in “Lily” – she sounds about 20.
There’s perhaps a bit too much genre-hopping to give the sense of a really strong vision, but the stories are full, quirky, and lively, and often quite funny. Sometimes the voices get mixed (she thinks “main street” is the NY equivalent of the High Street, for example), but that’s fixable with some editing. Sometimes I think she has tried to be “country-neutral”, which weakens the sense of immediacy – and immediacy is the best thing about these stories.
This is at least as good as any collection of short stories I have read in a long time, and in some cases – “Legendary”, “Julia K”, “Would Like to Meet” – far better. Tan never lets the limitations of the genre limit her emotional ambition, and her characters are very real, very true. A small revelation is small, of course – but it’s a revelation nonetheless, and Tan makes you feel that.
July 5, 2018
Review to come.
November 10, 2018
この小さい物語はめっちゃ本当で人間的な面白いことごとですよね。
January 6, 2024
An interest in raised scars, peeled scabs, giving up smoking, and what swimming pools do to hair and skin.
"Legendary" - She's with a man who keeps photos of his exs, and tells her about them - fragmentary details and habits. One of them, Holly, had a bad accident on a trapeze. The narrator's parents told her 2 years ago that she'd had an older sister who died when 10 months old. They can't describe her well. The persona begins to stalk Holly, watches her do a 1-person street performance as an automaton. When the persona break up with the man, she looks at the photo of her as if she was just another of his exs. She realises how few possessions she has.
"Date Night" - Lily, 9, lives with her mother and Davy, a live-in maid in a 4th floor apartment. She can only see out by standing on things. A man comes to collect her mother. Lily talks to Davy about her life - the children she's had to leave behind. Her mother's back by morning.
"101" - After a wedding the brother of the groom and sister of the bride drive the cars back with the wedding presents in. It's a long trip. They sleep together. After they arrive they go their own ways. She finds she's pregnant just as she finds her sister is. Then the parallelism breaks - she terminates the pregnancy and doesn't go to the new baby's shower, baptism, etc.
"Julia K." - "When I grow up," she said, "I want to be a disease." Language, as she deployed it, was neither a line cast nor a bullet fired. It was a catholic mechanism: the sharp twist of a pilot biscuit into the waifish body of a christ ... "I want to be filthy with beauty," she said.
He meets Julia K. in the playground to smoke. Maybe they have sex there. She lives above him. She meets her again in spring. She invites him to supper. Her mother wears a black chador and uses a walking frame. She's taken a vow of silence. While she watches a gory true crime TV show, Julia offers him inedible food. She says she's a tattoo remover. There's a big black fish in their bath. He glances into her room - no bed, but a ballet barre under the window. They go to the playground to smoke. She says she used to be a pole-dancer, stage name Proust. She was offered a lot of money by a customer. The contract involved a gagging order lasting 7 years. That evening, the 7 years were over. She says she was collected, drugged (hallucinogenic?), crucified (nails through palms, she still had the scars) then released. They have sex - "Her body a city: I carved a key out of soap, found the trapdoors and learned the secret knocks". After a few weeks he realises that she's moved out. The ending is
Last week, I was in another city. Julia was there, in a black bar on a black street, holding a dark drink. "You again," she said and took a sip. I offered her a cigarette, She said she'd quit
"DD-MM-YY" - When Adam (first-person) returns to the family house after the end of his Art college year, Coney (ex neighbour) is asleep (getting over drugs) and Marc (brother, med student) is out at a party. Adam and Marc are triplets, the other one dying at birth. Coney, Marc's girlfriend and band-partner (DD-MM-YY was the band's name), used to be clever. Adam used to secretly sleep with her too ("I used to wonder what was in it for Coney. Why bother cheating on Marc with someone who looked exactly like him? It just seemed like double the work. Now, I think was was trying to make one person out of the two: the one she loved and the one who loved her"). She caused a car accident. When she told Marc she was sleeping with Adam he broke Marc's nose. It's still crooked. She had amnesia, forgetting that she's slept with Marc. She has sex with her. Then she asks him how they were together. He asks if she's back with Marc. She says no but he doesn't believe her. It's true.
"Laurens" - The sister and brother's mother killed herself. They're maybe in their early teens. They're both referred to as "Lauren". The girl has a sleep-over with friend Kumi. When she returns, she checks to see if her father's brought a woman home. He hasn't. She takes one of her dad's guns and shoots him. The boy has a sleep-over with Jericho. His father collects him almost a day late. When they stop to shop, the girl behind the counter doesn't let him buy alcohol. They have an accident. The father might be dead. The mother's ghost tells the boy that the father needs a hospital so the boy drives the broken car.
"Candy Glass" - Written like a script. Filming in Miami. DC is a women who drives wearing black - balaclava too - so that people think the car is driverless. She's a stunt double for the first-person narrator who has come out. Seems that DC was somehow a boy at 15. They make love. DC has an accident, becomes blind in one eye, ending her career. She decides to move somewhere new, find a man, go to church. The narrator imagines DC years later watching one of her own films with her husband, watching the credits to the end.
"Ghosts" - She and AJ live together. They meet in a hotel. Dr Barry is a therapist. I don't think I get it.
"New Jersey" - Jimmy (female) and Erin are 17. Erin has a boyfriend and will go to college. Jimmy's going into the Army and might be gay. They drink vodka and go to heavy metal gigs. While in bed together after a gig, Erin says that 2 days before, she'd lost her virginity with her boyfriend. She provides details. Jimmy is hurt that Erin hadn't told her before. Jimmy dreams of dissecting a squirrel in a desert. She wakes and walks towards the pier.
"Transformer" - The first-person female narrator has a male friend who lives on a boat - "People say the first one is the one you'll love forever, so I pop my cherry with a Coke before inviting myself over". His studio used to be swimming baths. Later he's married.
"Would Like to Meet" - The female first narrator is robbed while closing her gift shop. That evening "I thought if my life was a movie, this was when I'd decide to be artificially inseminated, open a cake-making business, or cycle across South America". In Time Out she sees that a couple is asking for a girl. They take her out for a meal. It won't be a threesome - first the man would go out with her, then the woman. The woman says she has terminal bone cancer and wants to know her husband will be ok without her. Later the wife phones to say they've changed their minds about the idea.
From to "Julia K." to "Candy Glass" I was impressed. The other pieces weren't quite so good, but they were never boring.
"Legendary" - She's with a man who keeps photos of his exs, and tells her about them - fragmentary details and habits. One of them, Holly, had a bad accident on a trapeze. The narrator's parents told her 2 years ago that she'd had an older sister who died when 10 months old. They can't describe her well. The persona begins to stalk Holly, watches her do a 1-person street performance as an automaton. When the persona break up with the man, she looks at the photo of her as if she was just another of his exs. She realises how few possessions she has.
"Date Night" - Lily, 9, lives with her mother and Davy, a live-in maid in a 4th floor apartment. She can only see out by standing on things. A man comes to collect her mother. Lily talks to Davy about her life - the children she's had to leave behind. Her mother's back by morning.
"101" - After a wedding the brother of the groom and sister of the bride drive the cars back with the wedding presents in. It's a long trip. They sleep together. After they arrive they go their own ways. She finds she's pregnant just as she finds her sister is. Then the parallelism breaks - she terminates the pregnancy and doesn't go to the new baby's shower, baptism, etc.
"Julia K." - "When I grow up," she said, "I want to be a disease." Language, as she deployed it, was neither a line cast nor a bullet fired. It was a catholic mechanism: the sharp twist of a pilot biscuit into the waifish body of a christ ... "I want to be filthy with beauty," she said.
He meets Julia K. in the playground to smoke. Maybe they have sex there. She lives above him. She meets her again in spring. She invites him to supper. Her mother wears a black chador and uses a walking frame. She's taken a vow of silence. While she watches a gory true crime TV show, Julia offers him inedible food. She says she's a tattoo remover. There's a big black fish in their bath. He glances into her room - no bed, but a ballet barre under the window. They go to the playground to smoke. She says she used to be a pole-dancer, stage name Proust. She was offered a lot of money by a customer. The contract involved a gagging order lasting 7 years. That evening, the 7 years were over. She says she was collected, drugged (hallucinogenic?), crucified (nails through palms, she still had the scars) then released. They have sex - "Her body a city: I carved a key out of soap, found the trapdoors and learned the secret knocks". After a few weeks he realises that she's moved out. The ending is
Last week, I was in another city. Julia was there, in a black bar on a black street, holding a dark drink. "You again," she said and took a sip. I offered her a cigarette, She said she'd quit
"DD-MM-YY" - When Adam (first-person) returns to the family house after the end of his Art college year, Coney (ex neighbour) is asleep (getting over drugs) and Marc (brother, med student) is out at a party. Adam and Marc are triplets, the other one dying at birth. Coney, Marc's girlfriend and band-partner (DD-MM-YY was the band's name), used to be clever. Adam used to secretly sleep with her too ("I used to wonder what was in it for Coney. Why bother cheating on Marc with someone who looked exactly like him? It just seemed like double the work. Now, I think was was trying to make one person out of the two: the one she loved and the one who loved her"). She caused a car accident. When she told Marc she was sleeping with Adam he broke Marc's nose. It's still crooked. She had amnesia, forgetting that she's slept with Marc. She has sex with her. Then she asks him how they were together. He asks if she's back with Marc. She says no but he doesn't believe her. It's true.
"Laurens" - The sister and brother's mother killed herself. They're maybe in their early teens. They're both referred to as "Lauren". The girl has a sleep-over with friend Kumi. When she returns, she checks to see if her father's brought a woman home. He hasn't. She takes one of her dad's guns and shoots him. The boy has a sleep-over with Jericho. His father collects him almost a day late. When they stop to shop, the girl behind the counter doesn't let him buy alcohol. They have an accident. The father might be dead. The mother's ghost tells the boy that the father needs a hospital so the boy drives the broken car.
"Candy Glass" - Written like a script. Filming in Miami. DC is a women who drives wearing black - balaclava too - so that people think the car is driverless. She's a stunt double for the first-person narrator who has come out. Seems that DC was somehow a boy at 15. They make love. DC has an accident, becomes blind in one eye, ending her career. She decides to move somewhere new, find a man, go to church. The narrator imagines DC years later watching one of her own films with her husband, watching the credits to the end.
"Ghosts" - She and AJ live together. They meet in a hotel. Dr Barry is a therapist. I don't think I get it.
"New Jersey" - Jimmy (female) and Erin are 17. Erin has a boyfriend and will go to college. Jimmy's going into the Army and might be gay. They drink vodka and go to heavy metal gigs. While in bed together after a gig, Erin says that 2 days before, she'd lost her virginity with her boyfriend. She provides details. Jimmy is hurt that Erin hadn't told her before. Jimmy dreams of dissecting a squirrel in a desert. She wakes and walks towards the pier.
"Transformer" - The first-person female narrator has a male friend who lives on a boat - "People say the first one is the one you'll love forever, so I pop my cherry with a Coke before inviting myself over". His studio used to be swimming baths. Later he's married.
"Would Like to Meet" - The female first narrator is robbed while closing her gift shop. That evening "I thought if my life was a movie, this was when I'd decide to be artificially inseminated, open a cake-making business, or cycle across South America". In Time Out she sees that a couple is asking for a girl. They take her out for a meal. It won't be a threesome - first the man would go out with her, then the woman. The woman says she has terminal bone cancer and wants to know her husband will be ok without her. Later the wife phones to say they've changed their minds about the idea.
From to "Julia K." to "Candy Glass" I was impressed. The other pieces weren't quite so good, but they were never boring.
September 18, 2014
Things to Make and Break is probably one of the best sets of short stories I have ever come across. They are consistently good; I cannot choose the best or worst out of the eleven stories. They're stylish, imaginative, subtly shocking and generally just incredible. May-Lan Tan has an assured and confident voice, bringing something different to the table, and I hope to hear a lot more from her in the future.
January 30, 2015
Some of the short stories here are utterly gripping and to-the-point tight. But from about half-way through the effect had worn off a bit. Maybe I shouldn't have read the book as quickly to give each story a bit more room, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that the longest story, Candy Glass, about half the way through the book, was also the weakest in my view.
Still, a great talent and I'm curious to read her next offering.
Still, a great talent and I'm curious to read her next offering.
November 20, 2019
This one is difficult to review. I really liked some of her phrases, so I kept reading stories I didn't like at all (stories in which I didn't even bother to get to know the characters) simply because I wanted to ingest the language. But it was the very last story, "Would Like to Meet," that had me really enjoying the book, that had me thinking, "If this were a novel, I'd love it." So I'm grateful for those 10 or so pages.
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