The Claire Tham Collection

Book excerpt: Claire Tham brings together twenty-one short stories from three classic collections, each reflecting her prowess as a storyteller whose deft hands moulds stories to articulate her signature themes of rebellion and non-conformity. Lauded for her technical innovation of style and form in prose, these stories play with the presentation of time and space in the progression of narratives, creating multi-layered possibilities to keep readers entranced till the very last page. Fascist Rock: Stories of Rebellion (published 1990) The angry rebels who walk though these stories tease us with the most provocative of questions. Disturbingly familiar—bitterly and eloquently, they voice our own hidden rebellion. Saving the Rainforest and Other Stories (published 1993) “I believe in the sanctity of the ordinariness of everyday life: beyond its charmed boundaries lies confusion.” So speaks the voice of conservatism and conformity. But shouldn’t one fly, push oneself to the limit and beyond, break all rules? These stories explore the tensions that arise when the desire for personal fulfillment clashes with societies’ norms. The Gunpowder Trail and Other Stories (published 2003) In this collection of stories, characters step away from the status quo, blazing a trail of quiet self-destruction