BLOB: A Love Story

(Paperback)

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'A modern-day Mrs. Caliban, BLOB is a book that looks at identity and desire in profoundly interesting ways'

Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

A hilarious and moving debut novel about a young woman who decides to turn a sentient blob into her perfect boyfriend...

The daughter of a Taiwanese father and white mother, Vi Liu has never quite fit into her Midwestern college town. Now at twenty-three, after getting dumped and dropping out of college, Vi works as a front desk attendant at a hotel where she refills cucumber water samovars and fends off overtures of friendship from her bubbly blond coworker, Rachel. But when Vi decides to accompany Rachel to a local drag show, her life changes forever. In the alley outside the bar, next to a trash can, is a blob with beady black eyes. Unable to leave it behind, Vi picks up the creature and, in a moment of drunken desperation, takes it home with her.

As her pet blob becomes sentient, Vi realizes it obeys her commands and she decides to mold the blob into her ideal partner. She feeds it sugary cereal and a stream of pop culture, and soon the creature transforms into a movie-star handsome white man. But as Vi's desire to be loved unconditionally threatens to spiral out of control, she is forced to confront her lonely childhood, the ex-boyfriend who has unfriended her, and the racial marginalization that has defined her relationships. Ultimately, Vi embarks on a journey of self-discovery and learns that it's impossible to control those you love.

Blending the familiar with the fantastical, BLOB tells a witty, heartfelt story of what it means to be human.

'A rollicking fun, funny, poignant coming of age story, filled with honesty and delight'

Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

'An inventive, utterly unique debut'

Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light

Reviews

While the sentient ball of goo in Maggie Su's BLOB certainly grabs the reader's attention, there is so much more at play in this wondrous novel. Vi, struggling to place herself in any context that makes sense within the world, earnestly leads us into a wild experiment, to turn a blob into the man of her dreams, and I was transfixed by her voice, a weird mix of excitement and dread. A modern-day Mrs. Caliban, BLOB is a book that looks at identity and desire in profoundly interesting ways. -- Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing To See Here
A rollicking fun, funny, poignant coming-of-age story, filled with honesty and delight -- Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
An inventive, utterly unique debut. BLOB is not only a deliciously creepy, deeply entertaining take on modern relationships, it's also a moving look at new adulthood, and the inherent vulnerability that comes along with figuring out exactly who you're meant to be -- Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light
Unique, heartfelt, and hilarious, BLOB is a delightfully inquisitive meditation on relationships and identity. What responsibility do we have in the creation of our relationships What do we bring and leave behind And what repercussions exist when we force ourselves into an identity instead of nurturing our real selves This winsome book pulls off the impossible feat of examining our deepest existential questions with equal parts tenderness and droll -- Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty
Like a beguiling literary love child of Melissa Broder and Jeff VanderMeer, BLOB enthralls with raw intimacy and Frankensteinian science. This is a novel that dives headfirst into the gelatinous messiness of early adulthood - with its bad jobs, bad boyfriends, and bad decision-making - finding self-actualization along the way. Maggie Su's debut will make you laugh, shriek, and cheer for its wayward, wobbly inventions. BLOB is not to be missed! -- Allegra Hyde, author of The Last Catastrophe and Eleutheria
What I love most about BLOB is the way it manages to imbue a zany comic premise with powerful emotion and deep thematic resonance. Maggie Su skilfully manages action, pacing, and tone, and the result is serious fun, both grave and entertaining. If I happened to come across an attentive blob, I would ask it to grow two hands and applaud this fresh, terrific debut -- Chris Bachelder, author of The Throwback
'In BLOB, Su's prose breathes magic, humor, and empathy into everything it touches . . . You'll want to read this in one sitting, but try to savor it: there are gems of laughter and insight to be unearthed on every page -- Renee Branum, author of Defenestrate
BLOB is absolutely charming. Maggie Su's writing is imaginative and funny. Vi is a deliciously messy narrator who will make readers laugh, yes, but also think deeply about the relationship between love and generosity -- Megan Giddings, author of The Women Could Fly