3.5
Gods of Want
By K-Ming ChangPublisher Description
Startling stories center the bodies, memories, myths, and relationships of Asian American women in “a voracious, probing collection, proof of how exhilarating the short story can be” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice)—from the National Book Award “5 Under 35” honoree and author of Bestiary
“Wise, energetic, funny, and wild, Gods of Want displays a boundless imagination anchored by the weight of ancestors and history.”—Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Sabrina & Corina and Woman of Light
WINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Them, Book Riot
In “Auntland,” a steady stream of aunts adjust to American life by sneaking surreptitious kisses from women at temple, buying tubs of vanilla ice cream to prepare for citizenship tests, and hatching plans to name their daughters “Dog.” In “The Chorus of Dead Cousins,” ghost-cousins cross space, seas, and skies to haunt their live-cousin, wife to a storm chaser. In “Xífù,” a mother-in-law tortures a wife in increasingly unsuccessful attempts to rid the house of her. In “Mariela,” two girls explore one another’s bodies for the first time in the belly of a plastic shark, while in “Virginia Slims,” a woman from a cigarette ad comes to life. And in “Resident Aliens,” a former slaughterhouse serves as a residence to a series of widows, each harboring her own calamitous secrets.
With each tale, K-Ming Chang gives us her own take on a surrealism that mixes myth and migration, corporeality and ghostliness, queerness and the quotidian. Stunningly told in her feminist fabulist style, these are uncanny stories peeling back greater questions of power and memory.
“Wise, energetic, funny, and wild, Gods of Want displays a boundless imagination anchored by the weight of ancestors and history.”—Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Sabrina & Corina and Woman of Light
WINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Them, Book Riot
In “Auntland,” a steady stream of aunts adjust to American life by sneaking surreptitious kisses from women at temple, buying tubs of vanilla ice cream to prepare for citizenship tests, and hatching plans to name their daughters “Dog.” In “The Chorus of Dead Cousins,” ghost-cousins cross space, seas, and skies to haunt their live-cousin, wife to a storm chaser. In “Xífù,” a mother-in-law tortures a wife in increasingly unsuccessful attempts to rid the house of her. In “Mariela,” two girls explore one another’s bodies for the first time in the belly of a plastic shark, while in “Virginia Slims,” a woman from a cigarette ad comes to life. And in “Resident Aliens,” a former slaughterhouse serves as a residence to a series of widows, each harboring her own calamitous secrets.
With each tale, K-Ming Chang gives us her own take on a surrealism that mixes myth and migration, corporeality and ghostliness, queerness and the quotidian. Stunningly told in her feminist fabulist style, these are uncanny stories peeling back greater questions of power and memory.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities43 Reviews
3.5
Olivia Eckert
Created 2 days agoShare
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cathrine
Created about 2 months agoShare
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Diverse charactersMulti-layered charactersBeautifully writtenOriginal writingFast-pacedSuspensefulUnpredictableComicalHeartbreakingThought-provoking
Eva B
Created 3 months agoShare
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“short stories
Taiwanese/American writer
Queer
Some stories are gory (the best)”
Portia
Created 5 months agoShare
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“this is probably the most consistent short story collection i've ever read, i saved so many quotes, it was weird and gay and i loved it
Auntland ⭐️⭐️
A Chorus of Dead Cousins ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Xífù ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mandarin Speakers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Anchor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The La-La Stor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nüwa ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Eating Pussy ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nine-Headed Birds ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dykes ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Episodes of Hoarders ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Homophone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Resident Aliens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Virginia Slims ⭐️⭐️
Mariela ⭐️⭐️
Meals for Mourners ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️”
Johanne 🪼
Created 6 months agoShare
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Beautifully writtenOriginal writing
About K-Ming Chang
K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award winner, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of Gods of Want, winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, and Bestiary, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award.
Other books by K-Ming Chang
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