They twist and turn in unpredictable ways and although the ride wasn’t always smooth, I never regretted getting on. Despite their nagging loose ends, Ma’s stories stay with you - evidence of a gifted writer curious about the limits of theoretical possibility. Each of these stories leans un-self-consciously into the speculative, illuminating Ma’s phantasmagoric interests. Not what you'd expect from a figure from Himalayan folklore, now is it 'Bliss Montage' is a collection of short stories told with what's become her signature sting of wit and satire by Ling Ma, author of the highly acclaimed novel 'Severance. Wry, peculiar stories like Los Angeles and Yeti Lovemaking confirm that Ma’s imagination operates on the same chimerical frequency as those of Helen Oyeyemi, Samanta Schweblin, Meng Jin. A Yeti not only comes to life but splashes on Old Spice and lights up American Spirit cigarettes. The connections between them are loose, tethered by similar leads. Some stories are confident in their strangeness and ambiguity, a handful feel like promising sketches of sturdier narratives and the rest fall somewhere in between. an assured follow-up, a striking collection that peddles in the uncanny and the surreal, but it often lacks Severance’s zest. The eight wily tales mark the return of an author whose inventive debut, Severance, urgently announced her as a writer worth watching. As they move languorously through the world, observing and operating with a cool detachment, their questionable choices - stalking an ex-lover, having sex with a Yeti, living with her husband and 100 ex-boyfriends - fuel the narratives, and heighten their stakes. The women populating these stories are not merely at the center, they are the center.
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