A review by gillianhagenus
Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan

5.0

There is almost too much to say in praise of this book. One could be forgiven for thinking that Elizabeth Tan invented the short story form, she is that much a master of it. Every story does something fresh with the form that I haven't encountered the likes of before. Tan throws the rule book of narrative out the window and it is a beautiful rebellion. Tan's mind is a quirky and baffling landscape full of talking ovens and cats and B52 references. The collection is set in some undefined near future, a magical real, surreal foray that asks you to just run with it, run with all of it and let it soak you up and dissect you and prod at your marrow to get at what's hidden there, hidden even from yourself. Each of these stories, as the title merely slightly suggests, communicates some form of profound loneliness that hits you right in your centre of gravity and yet somehow the word 'uplifting' would not be out of place here. I will never not be thinking about the stories in this book. I am, quite simply, in awe.