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seebrandyread's review
4.0
Titles are kind of important to me. I always look for the source of the title of a book or smaller piece like a story or poem as I read. It's partially a habit left over from the days of language arts, but it can also function as a guide for a piece of writing. The title World Famous Love Acts comes from the last story in Brian Leung's story collection with the same title, but by titling the book as a whole this way, it tells the author the theme that connects the stories: acts of love.
The phrase "love acts" connotes all sorts of meanings depending on context, and Leung uses his skills as a story teller to guide his reader through some of those contexts. Some of his characters love parents, partners, and unborn siblings, but, because love is complicated, so are their actions. In "Executing Dexter," two boys find ways to kill off homemade "babies" until they realize the implications of their game. In "Who Knew Her Best," a struggling writer moonlighting as a chauffeur grapples with with the realization that maybe he doesn't know the people he loves the way he thinks he does.
Most of the stories are connected to some degree by place or with characters whose absence in earlier stories is explained in later stories. Sometimes love has barriers or creates barriers that, when crossed, make it all the more beautiful. And sometimes the strongest act of love is to respect those barriers and keep one's distance.
Leung pulls from a racially diverse cast of characters of different genders and sexual preferences often drawing from his own biracial background. Diverse representation is important for understanding difference, but Leung seems more concerned with what connects and brings together, namely, love and its own diverse variations.
Some voices are stronger than others from a craft stand point, but all are compelling and many heartbreaking. The most beautiful story for me, "Leases," tells of a man who must finally choose between his wife and his alternate life of sex with men. Perhaps this story best illustrates the complications of love and how acting in its name takes as much as it gives.
The phrase "love acts" connotes all sorts of meanings depending on context, and Leung uses his skills as a story teller to guide his reader through some of those contexts. Some of his characters love parents, partners, and unborn siblings, but, because love is complicated, so are their actions. In "Executing Dexter," two boys find ways to kill off homemade "babies" until they realize the implications of their game. In "Who Knew Her Best," a struggling writer moonlighting as a chauffeur grapples with with the realization that maybe he doesn't know the people he loves the way he thinks he does.
Most of the stories are connected to some degree by place or with characters whose absence in earlier stories is explained in later stories. Sometimes love has barriers or creates barriers that, when crossed, make it all the more beautiful. And sometimes the strongest act of love is to respect those barriers and keep one's distance.
Leung pulls from a racially diverse cast of characters of different genders and sexual preferences often drawing from his own biracial background. Diverse representation is important for understanding difference, but Leung seems more concerned with what connects and brings together, namely, love and its own diverse variations.
Some voices are stronger than others from a craft stand point, but all are compelling and many heartbreaking. The most beautiful story for me, "Leases," tells of a man who must finally choose between his wife and his alternate life of sex with men. Perhaps this story best illustrates the complications of love and how acting in its name takes as much as it gives.
strongplum's review
5.0
Fantastic collection of short stories. My favorite is the titular story, where Leung writes, “If you ever ask me how much I love you, I’d answer with this detail: when we stood on the patio making love, my feet never moved.” So good, so good.
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