Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century Published by Tin House Books by Kim Fu
on February 1, 2022
Genres: Adult, Anthology, Contemporary, Fantasy, Horror, Magical Realism, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction
Pages: 220
Source: Netgalley
Format: ARC, eBook
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Goodreads
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
ISBN: 1951142993
Rating:
In the twelve unforgettable tales of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, the strange is made familiar and the familiar strange, such that a girl growing wings on her legs feels like an ordinary rite of passage, while a bug-infested house becomes an impossible, Kafkaesque nightmare. Each story builds a new world all its own: a group of children steal a haunted doll; a runaway bride encounters a sea monster; a vendor sells toy boxes that seemingly control the passage of time; an insomniac is seduced by the Sandman. These visions of modern life wrestle with themes of death and technological consequence, guilt and sexuality, and unmask the contradictions that exist within all of us.
Mesmerizing, electric, and wholly original, Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century blurs the boundaries of the real and fantastic, offering intricate and surprising insights into human nature.
This was book such a surprise–a wonderful surprise!
Full of slightly macabre and fascinating stories, I was riveted and constantly curious as to what else Kim Fu’s mind could whip up.
Tales of 3D printers that can regrow a spouse that you’ve killed a few times over, haunted dolls, and legs that start sprouting feathers–Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century was brilliantly done.
One of the best aspects of this is that Fu never seemed to take anything too seriously with these tales. Instead, she wove these stories in the vein of the plausible–even when entirely implausible. As if the reader and the author were both aware of a strange world that already existed. Fu takes for granted that, as a reader, we can follow along with her logic as if it’s just another day where the Sandman will come visit.
A fabulous read that can be picked up and put back down at will without missing a beat.
About Kim Fu
Kim Fu is a Canadian-born writer, living in Seattle, Washington. .
Her first novel FOR TODAY I AM A BOY won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. It was also a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and long-listed for CBC’s Canada Reads. Fu's debut poetry collection HOW FESTIVE THE AMBULANCE received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, and includes a 2017 National Magazine Awards Silver Medal winner and a Best Canadian Poetry 2016 selection. Her most recent novel, THE LOST GIRLS OF CAMP FOREVERMORE, was published in February 2018.
Fu’s writing has appeared in Granta, the Atlantic, the New York Times, Hazlitt, and the Times Literary Supplement. She has received residency fellowships from the Ucross Foundation, Berton House, Wildacres, and the Wallace Stegner Grant for the Arts.
The stories in the book sound super creepy but in a good way! 😀
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Book Blitz: Time Lies by Rowena Tisdale + $25 Amazon gift card Giveaway (INTL)
Sounds creepy and fun! Thanks for sharing this one as it is new to me.
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Blog Tour Review: Our Best Shot by A.M. Williams
[…] [8 Mar] Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu ★★★★½ […]