Publishers Weekly
06/27/2022
Ma (Severance) examines themes of otherness and disconnection in this fantastical and often brilliant collection. In “Tomorrow,” an arm protrudes from a woman’s vagina during her pregnancy, which her doctor says is “not ideal” but “relatively safe,” his cursory advice gleaned from a website that “looks like WebMD.” The mother, like many of the book’s protagonists, emigrated from China to the U.S. as a child; later in the story, she returns to visit her great-aunt, with whom she communicates primarily through a translation app. In “Returning,” a woman travels with her husband to his native country, the fictional Garboza, only to be abandoned by him at the airport. The protagonist, who wrote a novel about a couple who “during an economic depression, decide to cryogenically freeze themselves,” experiences ambivalence about her marriage. These stories, and the elliptical “Office Hours” (about a young woman’s semi-romance with her film professor, who has a Narnia-like magical wardrobe in his office), are enchanting, full of intelligence, dry humor, and an appealing self-awareness. On the other hand, a couple of entries—such as “Los Angeles,” about a woman living with 100 of her ex-boyfriends—don’t quite manifest into something more than their conceit. Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Named a Must Read by The New York Times, TIME, Vulture, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Esquire, Nylon, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Gothamist, Associated Press, Fortune, Good Housekeeping, The Chicago Review of Books, Literary Hub, The Millions, Publishers Weekly, Book Riot, Pop Sugar, Polygon, Tordotcom, and Nuvo
“Ma’s stories stay with you . . . Evidence of a gifted writer curious about the limits of theoretical possibility.”
—Lovia Gyarkye, The New York Times Book Review
“Weird and wonderful, surreal and subversive . . . Ma is well on her way to a landmark career.”
—Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire
“Remarkable . . . Bliss Montage delivers on the white-hot promise of [Ma’s] 2018 breakout.”
—Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune
“Surreal . . . Powerhouse [stories] so absorbing that you’ll pray Ma spins them off into future novels.”
—Hillary Kelly, Los Angeles Times
“A joy to read . . . Dark and fantastic and very, very true.”
—Abby Manzella, The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Captivating . . . Ma harnesses the pulsating desire and power dynamics present in all relationships, from intimate friendships and haunting romantic entanglements to motherhood and the invisible yet omnipresent ties of ancestors.”
—Cady Lang and Angela Haupt, TIME
“Swift, smart . . . As always, Ling Ma’s big, weird ideas set the stage for keen emotional insights.”
—Patrick Rapa, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“By turns blunt . . . hilarious . . . and insanely clever.”
—J. Howard Rosier, Vulture
“Wildly inventive . . . The tension between the familiar and the unfathomable pulses on every page.”
—Lauren Mechling, Vogue
“[Bliss Montage] destabilizes easy expectations—around speculative literature, Asian American literature, immigrant literature, trauma literature, and fiction itself—to gratifying effect . . . Disquieting and sometimes delightful.”
—Jennifer Schaffer-Goddard, The Nation
“A surreal and unnerving collection of stories that explores the nature of connection and autonomy.”
—The New Yorker
“You turn the pages of Bliss Montage . . . and find the world you thought you knew shaken up and rearranged . . . Told with what’s become [Ma’s] signature sting of wit and satire.”
—Scott Simon, NPR
“Each story unspools like a dream sequence privately remembered . . . What’s so satisfying about Ma’s second act [is] how Bliss Montage picks up the thread left by Severance’s coming-of-age arc into these stories of older, hardened women, who’ve already confronted their pasts over and over, who now find relief—and rebellion—via dissociation.”
—Delia Cai, Vanity Fair
“When I finished reading Bliss Montage . . . I wanted to turn back to the first page and read the collection all over again.”
—Kathy Chow, Los Angeles Review of Books
“Darkly comic, linguistically sharp, and uniquely harrowing in how it straddles the line between reality and fable.”
—J. Howard Rosier, Houston Chronicle
“Strange and unsettling . . . There’s a bit of magic realism in Ma’s imaginings, a bit of horror and often an emotional distancing.”
—Allison Arieff, San Francisco Chronicle
“Ma offers an astute insider-outsider perspective and a sharp eye for detail . . . [Bliss Montage] tweak[s] the everyday to allow us to question the mirages scaffolding our reality.”
—Mia Levitin, Financial Times
“Far-out stories . . . each one its own deadpan flight of fancy, sly and strange.”
—Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
“As outlandish as [it is] delectable.”
—Sophia June, Nylon
“Uncanny and powerful . . . Soaring . . . Brilliantly layered.”
—Bruna Dantas Lobato, Astra