Author(s): May-Lan Tan

Short Stories

"There's plenty of darkness and a sprinkling of magic, and these strange, flinty, cigarette-stained narratives speed by, offering lots of surface tension and compel- ling deeper passions." --James Smart, The Guardian "Tan is a cinematic w riter in the same way some directors are literary--think David Lynch at his most Guignol." --David Collard, The Times Literary Supplement "The thirteen stories found in these two books are a fantastic introduction to a writer in the process of teaching us new ways of reading." --Tobias Carroll, Vol. 1 Brooklyn "Things to Make and Break is omnisexual, and it's mind-blowingly good." --Christopher Allen, PANK Old relationships, past selves, hopes for the future-third parties are always in play in any love story. In ten short stories, May-Lan Tan unspools worlds within worlds, the possibilities we seek out again and again, and the seemingly endless churn through self-invention and self-annihilation that is our search for connection. Sleeping with your sister's husband's brother, betraying bandmates, contriving to strike up a friendship with your boyfriend's ex-Tan makes visible how all our dead ends are really mirrors, proxies for something else, and reflections that keep us from seeing our way forward. May-Lan Tan studied fine art at Goldsmiths and works as a ghostwriter. Her stories have appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, the Atlas Review, the Reader, and Aret . She lives in Berlin.