Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Starred review from December 1, 2021
Stories blending emotional realism with surreal imagery. It's worth mentioning this from the outset: The title of Fu's latest book is not a metaphor. In the pages of this collection, readers will discover a sea monster more aptly described as "an amalgamation of brainless multicellular organisms"; a sinister doll that once belonged to a family beset by tragedy; and a being with a hood that pours out sleep-inducing sand. This book will likely resonate with readers of Karen Russell and Ben Loory; like them, Fu is equally at home chronicling bizarre events and pondering her characters' inner lives. "June Bugs," for instance, follows the travails of Martha, a woman who moves to a new place abounding with an uncanny number of bugs. Fu explores the circumstances of how Martha came to live there, including the way an earlier relationship curdled into something toxic and abusive; by the denouement, the story has arrived at a phantasmagorical place, but Martha's challenges in life and work are what endure. Some of the stories venture fully into the speculative realm, such as "Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867," which is told entirely through dialogue between a customer and operator of a futuristic service that creates realistic simulations of the user's fantasies, exploring questions of memory and reality, and "Twenty Hours," in which a couple pays for a service that allows them to murder one another repeatedly. Violence, trauma, and intimacy come to the foreground in many of these stories, including "#ClimbingNation," about a memorial service for a man who died while climbing. Even here, in a more realistic mode, Fu addresses questions of technology and community with grace and subtlety. A powerful collection that demonstrates Fu's range and skill.

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Starred review from January 1, 2022
Lauded Vancouver-born, Seattle-domiciled poet-novelist Fu (The Lost Girls of Camp Forever More, 2018) presents a dozen sly, provocative, fabulous short stories sure to delight and shock. From doll parts to winged ankles to stockpiled gold bars, Fu flaunts an inimitable imagination. She deftly parses death in various situations, including a suicide attempt via time machine in "Time Cubes," a couple's mutual murders in "Twenty Hours," a whole family's annihilation by accident and hanging in "The Doll," and an unintended runaway bride's watery subsummation in "Bridezilla." Missed loved ones get reanimated in "Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867" and inspire a sister's potential revenge killing-in-the-making in "#ClimbingNation." Abusive lovers get exposed in "Scissors," during a sexually charged theater performance, and in "June Bugs," in which the abused attempts to flee the abuser. A young student does not leap to her death in "Liddy, First to Fly," a chronic insomniac finally gets to sleep in "The Sandman," the violent die violently in "In This Fantasy," and a graphic designer creates tasteful immersive experiences in "Do You Remember Candy." Speculative elements so adroitly and casually inserted into seemingly realistic narratives seem to be stoking a growing genre. Fu joins recent maestros Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Friday Black, 2018), Charles Yu (Sorry Please Thank You, 2012), and Seong-nan Ha (Bluebeard's First Wife, 2020) in creating irrefutably fantastic fiction.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from November 22, 2021
Poet and novelist Fu (The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore) delivers a stellar story collection that grounds tales of magical realism in her characters’ emotional realities. In “Liddy, First to Fly,” preteen narrator Grace and her friends pop the bumps on Liddy’s legs, prompting the appearance of feathers and wings. The mysterious development dovetails with the friends’ own normal pubescent changes, and Grace muses, “The realm of pretend had only just closed its doors to us, and light still leaked through around the edges.” “Time Cubes,” set in a mall where kiosks sell cubes that demonstrate the life cycles of plants and animals, follows a woman named Alice who lives and works in the building as a lab tech. Identifying as a “Depressive Insider,” she goes to therapy in the mall and she tries dating apps. In “Sandman,” a hooded figure shows up in the night on a woman named Kelly’s bed wearing a robe that contains a multitude of sand, which Kelly, who is unafraid of the sandman and suffers from insomnia, is eager to consume. An earnest coworker gives Kelly tips to help her sleep, but the sandman becomes her salvation. Fu’s stories crackle with quirky plots, and her characters’ problems and hunger for new possibilities are palpable. This is a winner. Agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists.