Böcker av Shih-Li Kow

The Sum of Our Follies is a novel set in Lubok Sayong, an imaginary Malaysian town. Two narrators describe Lubok Sayong and its community of quirky inhabitants. The first is Auyong, a retiree from the city who operates a lychee factory in Lubok Sayong. The other is eleven-year-old Mary Anne, an orphan who is taken in by an irascible woman in charge of the Big House. Through anecdotes and gentle humour, the two narrators observe the events that change the town and their lives as modernity sets in and Mary Anne grows up.

This cross-genre collection of twenty-five short stories and flash fiction pieces explores relationships and periods of transition. A mother questions the limits of her responsibility to her husband and son. A man operates a leaf blower during Chinese New Year, leading to tragic consequences. In speculative stories, a demolition worker dreams of clean air while Kuala Lumpur decays, and a cooking robot attempts to perfect its fried rice for a grieving family. These characters navigate displacement and uncertainties in pursuit of better lives. By the author of Ripples and Other Stories and the novel The Sum of Our Follies, this new collection boldly imagines scenarios we can only dream of - while subtly tethering us to Malaysian realities we can only sigh at.

This polyphonic collection of twenty-five stories presents a multitude of Malaysian perspectives spanning age, gender, and class. Yow char kwai hawkers compete for customers on a busy city street. Marital dynamics unfurl at an abortion clinic. On an island, a man's infatuation with a veiled woman takes a supernatural turn. A woman writes to her brother about their dead cat. Characters in these stories connect through chance encounters and fateful events. Their narratives are inevitably coloured by the social tension and occasional absurdities of a multicultural society. Shortlisted for the 2009 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize.