CB editions
216 pages, £8.99

Reviewed by Christopher Allen

May-Lan Tan’s Things to Make and Break is all about sex—or is it? What is sex but the search for the right connection? Sometimes people get it right; more often they—we—cross lines and break rules. We break things.

Tan’s treatment of intimacy in this collection of graciously detailed short stories embraces a variety of sexual experience: from sexual abuse to attempted sexual healing, from sadomasochism to a teenager’s first flushes of jealousy. Tan doesn’t limit herself to one gender perspective or one sexual orientation. Things to Make and Break is omnisexual, and it’s mind-blowingly good. Continue reading →