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Portable Curiosities
A biting collection of stories from a bold new voice. A young girl sees ghosts from her third eye, located where her belly button should be. A corporate lawyer feels increasingly disconnected from his job in a soulless 1200-storey skyscraper. And a one-dimensional yellow man steps out from a cinema screen in the hope of leading a three-dimensional life, but everyone around him is fixated only on the color of his skin. Welcome to Portable Curiosities. In these dark and often fantastical stories, Julie Koh combines absurd humour with searing critiques on modern society, proving herself to be one of Australia's most original and daring young writers.
256 pages, ebook
First published May 25, 2016
29 people are currently reading
761 people want to read
About the author
Julie Koh
20 books69 followersJulie Koh studied politics and law at the University of Sydney, then quit a career in corporate law to pursue writing. She is the author of two short-story collections: Capital Misfits and Portable Curiosities. The latter was shortlisted for several literary prizes and led to Julie being named a 2017 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist. Her short stories have appeared in publications including the Best Australian Stories in 2014 to 2017, and Best Australian Comedy Writing. Outside Australia, her fiction has been published in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Ireland and the United States. Julie edited BooksActually’s Gold Standard, co-founded the experimental literary collective Kanganoulipo, and was a judge for the 2018 Stella Prize. She is also the librettist for the satirical opera Chop Chef.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
November 20, 2017
She can nurse us or she can crush us. The power is all hers.
October 20, 2020
"Traditions of the surreal are as culturally coded as any other literary aesthetic. We imagine the gardens in Alice of Wonderland in Victorian English as much as we place Japanese ghost stories in the perspectives of the onis and the yokais. As modern writers, we write completely in the background of what was once written, while trying to remain ourselves. It is difficult to carve an intrinsically unique space. In the twelve stories of Portable Curiosities, Julie Koh combines the surreal, the imagist, and the undefined to create a singular hybrid voice."
- A portion of this review was published as part of a greater collective essay at 3AM Magazine: https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/futur...
- A portion of this review was published as part of a greater collective essay at 3AM Magazine: https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/futur...
July 2, 2016
It's great to read a collection of stories by an Australian writer doing something different from the usual realist stuff - these are mostly absurdist, satirical stories, that work to varying degrees. Some felt a bit obvious to me, while others were weird enough to surprise. Funnier than An Astronaut's Life, but without the power that Dechian brought to her skewed takes on reality.
December 20, 2016
'Portable Curiosities' is the perfect name for this book because almost every story is truly a curiosity, something you can pick up and look at from a number of angles and each time glean something new.
The stories are all absurdist and satirical: a 'yellow' man jumps out of film and abandons his screen life as a 1D plot device to become a three dimensional and complex human being (I particularly liked that one). I also really enjoyed 'Cream Reaper', about a new artisanal ice cream flavour that has a 50/50 chance of killing you, and 'Sight', about a young girl who is forced by her parents to have her third eye, located in her belly button, removed. In others sometimes the allegorical element felt a little obvious but since for the much of time Koh's subjects include sexism and racism, I didn't really mind. Because these are important things to talk about and much of the world still doesn't get that.
The writing style is excellent - very clean, sharp, spare and declarative, but exceptionally powerful at the same time. In fact, the writing style was the main reason I kept returning to this book. I suppose the only reason I didn't give this a four or even a five star rating was because it didn't really grab me emotionally, that is it didn't get me in the guts - I though I enjoyed it on an intellectual level. Will definitely continue to read this author.
The stories are all absurdist and satirical: a 'yellow' man jumps out of film and abandons his screen life as a 1D plot device to become a three dimensional and complex human being (I particularly liked that one). I also really enjoyed 'Cream Reaper', about a new artisanal ice cream flavour that has a 50/50 chance of killing you, and 'Sight', about a young girl who is forced by her parents to have her third eye, located in her belly button, removed. In others sometimes the allegorical element felt a little obvious but since for the much of time Koh's subjects include sexism and racism, I didn't really mind. Because these are important things to talk about and much of the world still doesn't get that.
The writing style is excellent - very clean, sharp, spare and declarative, but exceptionally powerful at the same time. In fact, the writing style was the main reason I kept returning to this book. I suppose the only reason I didn't give this a four or even a five star rating was because it didn't really grab me emotionally, that is it didn't get me in the guts - I though I enjoyed it on an intellectual level. Will definitely continue to read this author.
October 17, 2017
These are the strangest set of short stories I have read. Koh's characters are Chinese in a white world, observers, angry, anti-consumerism, not attractive, not successful and not fitting in. But each story is just bizarre, absurd and satirical. In the main it works. Greed, ambition and fear of those who are different are all scathingly covered. Weird but entertaining.
October 28, 2017
The short story is flexible and more open to experiment.
I found the stories in Julie Koh's collection...
Creative? Yes.
Challenging? Yes
Biting satire? Yes
But Koh's freewheeling, playfulness involving
form and subject matter....
I just prefer a more traditional short story with
clever metaphors....and a message that
touches my funnybone or heart.
I found the stories in Julie Koh's collection...
Creative? Yes.
Challenging? Yes
Biting satire? Yes
But Koh's freewheeling, playfulness involving
form and subject matter....
I just prefer a more traditional short story with
clever metaphors....and a message that
touches my funnybone or heart.
July 22, 2016
I do enjoy a weird, satirical short story collection. Koh is certainly a writer to watch.
June 9, 2016
Satire, like all forms of comedy, can essentially be boiled down to taking something familiar from the real world and turning it slightly to show how utterly strange its been the entire time. In her short stories Koh does this in much the way you would expect, taking shockingly familiar pieces of Sydney life and subverting them into surreal, sci-fi narratives with neat, satirical morals. What makes 'Portable Curiosities' so stark a read is that she never stops the turning, the stories screw in on themselves again and again before bursting off into a vortex of unexpected and unrecognisable directions.
'Hah,' you think, a few pages into a story. 'A hip new couture ice-cream store starts making a flavour that is literally to die for. I get it, I guess. It's like a commentary on th- Huh...' Then you turn the page and the plot changes completely and now you don't know what to think. Don't know what the message is, what its commenting on, what comment it would be making anyhow. The clean satirical lines drawn up with every concept quickly blur and begin to metastisise, losing their logical borders but gaining a new emotional depth in the process.
That Koh manages to pull off this peculiar feat so many times in succession is a true feat of writing, that she manages to go to all of these twisted, magical places whilst maintaining a consistent voice, specifically that of a woman in Sydney with Chinese heritage, makes it doubly impressive. The phrase 'One to Watch For' doesn't quite apply to Koh, since you needn't wait for her write something worth looking at. She has already done it and it's a work that screams to be read right now, so timely are its messages and so contemporary its brand of comedy.
'Hah,' you think, a few pages into a story. 'A hip new couture ice-cream store starts making a flavour that is literally to die for. I get it, I guess. It's like a commentary on th- Huh...' Then you turn the page and the plot changes completely and now you don't know what to think. Don't know what the message is, what its commenting on, what comment it would be making anyhow. The clean satirical lines drawn up with every concept quickly blur and begin to metastisise, losing their logical borders but gaining a new emotional depth in the process.
That Koh manages to pull off this peculiar feat so many times in succession is a true feat of writing, that she manages to go to all of these twisted, magical places whilst maintaining a consistent voice, specifically that of a woman in Sydney with Chinese heritage, makes it doubly impressive. The phrase 'One to Watch For' doesn't quite apply to Koh, since you needn't wait for her write something worth looking at. She has already done it and it's a work that screams to be read right now, so timely are its messages and so contemporary its brand of comedy.
October 26, 2016
It is rare for an author to write something that is dark and disturbing while at the same time being playful and quick-witted, and yet that is what Julie Koh has done in her collection of short stories entitled Portable Curiosities, published by UQP. This is an intellectual commentary on life and human behaviour presented with emotions stripped bare. The stories feature a cast of strange and compelling characters who are one thing one minute, only to be transformed into something else the next. There is a touch of magic, of the supernatural, of the surreal, of the futuristic, all grounded in the angst of modern life and the scourges and menaces of progressive civilisation.
Two of my favourites are The Three-Dimensional Yellow Man, a startling comment on racism, and Two, a portrait of an aging man and his slow release on the control over his life. I loved this passage:
'Old age, when it truly arrived, made Ralph spill cups of tea and fall off ladders. It put glue in his eyes and made him smell like old coats. His knuckles swelled and his skin turned to creased leather, marked with inexplicable stains.'
This is a narration and sometimes an analysis of politics, superstition, sexism, racism, body image and family dynamics. It is edgy with scenes both prophetic and funny; it is deeply personal with stories that ring with authenticity.
Two of my favourites are The Three-Dimensional Yellow Man, a startling comment on racism, and Two, a portrait of an aging man and his slow release on the control over his life. I loved this passage:
'Old age, when it truly arrived, made Ralph spill cups of tea and fall off ladders. It put glue in his eyes and made him smell like old coats. His knuckles swelled and his skin turned to creased leather, marked with inexplicable stains.'
This is a narration and sometimes an analysis of politics, superstition, sexism, racism, body image and family dynamics. It is edgy with scenes both prophetic and funny; it is deeply personal with stories that ring with authenticity.
June 18, 2018
3 1/2 stars. A bit of science fiction, a lot of satire and some absurd moments make this an entertaining collection of stories that have quite a bit to say about human relations, modern isolation and prejudice.
While I liked the use of these devices I did find that some of the stories had endings that overdid these, particularly the absurdity, and meant I was a bit confused about the author’s intention.
I will definitely read her future work as I think Koh has a very entertaining writing style.
While I liked the use of these devices I did find that some of the stories had endings that overdid these, particularly the absurdity, and meant I was a bit confused about the author’s intention.
I will definitely read her future work as I think Koh has a very entertaining writing style.
July 1, 2016
(Disclosure: The author is a friend.)
This a terrific, and refreshingly angry, collection of short stories. Koh deploys surrealism, not as a vehicle of escape, but as a means to engage our critical faculties. It's a giant wake-up call that tries to rouse us from our slumber and urges us to reflect and reconsider the current state of affairs. This is fiction consumed with the fierce urgency of now.
This a terrific, and refreshingly angry, collection of short stories. Koh deploys surrealism, not as a vehicle of escape, but as a means to engage our critical faculties. It's a giant wake-up call that tries to rouse us from our slumber and urges us to reflect and reconsider the current state of affairs. This is fiction consumed with the fierce urgency of now.
March 2, 2017
Portable Curiosities is a delightful collection of short stories, and a great book with which to begin my year of reading. The sudden shifts from realism to surrealism are exciting, and keep the stories unpredictable. Koh's vision for the future is often bleak, but always has a hint of humour. Her stories ask for validation of a writer, asking the question, should I? To which I will resolutely respond, yes.
June 5, 2016
Absolutely amazing, a star writer on the rise. I can't wait to see where she is in another 5 or 10 years, ruling over us all.
March 29, 2021
One of the best books I’ve read all year! At times quirky, at times, whimsical, at times avant-garde, it’s like black mirror in high-brow (yet very accessible) literature. Julie Koh has mastered the art of the short story.
May 6, 2024
You can also read this review at: http://oddfeather.co/2017/08/09/revie...
Julie Koh’s first full-length collection of short stories, Portable Curiosities, is a strange journey through an unsettling landscape of curious characters in familiar but altered settings. A young girl’s third eye, located in her navel, sees the undetectable and impolite spirit world. A cooler than cool Sydney entrepreneur fashionista media darling chef explores the limits of art, privilege, entitlement, and ice cream, with deadly results. And a young woman steps out of her boyfriend’s BMW into a parade of the gods, ignoring the all-powerful Economist god in favour of a drunken deity with a small dog under one arm.
Koh takes the world as she sees it and makes the reader see it that way too. She touches on themes of isolation, exclusion, racism, sexism, childhood neglect, the disease of over-achieving, and the sterility of living and working in the city. Several of her stories depict the burden of not living up to a particular image or identity and, most of all, not wanting to live up to it because it was flawed to begin with.
Several of her stories embody biting satire, such as The Three-Dimensional Yellow Man, in which Stand-offish Ninja #13 steps out of a cinema screen and embarks on a life of his own. He resolves to spend time on intellectual pursuits and studies the representation of woman in Italian neorealist cinema. When the man is invited to panels and festivals to discuss his work all he is asked about is his yellowness. Before long more ‘yellow cinema refugees’ emerge from the screen and this leads to the following:
Out of a fish and chip shop appeared a tight-lipped, flame-haired woman.
I don’t like it, she said. We’re in danger of being swamped by yellows. They stick to themselves and form ghettos. They’re stealing our jobs. Political correctness is ruining our island. Please explain, she said, because she really didn’t understand.
Her stories have an interesting variety of endings and lessons, each one full of so many layers that I know I’ll re-read this collection and find entirely new meanings and enjoyment from it. Some of the more memorable characters include: the man who lives by a list thinking it will help him beat death by being too quick for it, over-achieving and completely missing the point of life altogether; the woman in the cat café that becomes its own micro-nation, who grows to embrace anarchy, encouraged by a taxidermied tabby that tells her to ‘Annex some shit’; the local council that documents the complaints of a village against Russian musicians in the woods, culminating in the mass slaughter of the musicians and subsequent complaints from the local villagers that the escalated violence was unnecessary and a bit much all round really.
Koh’s stories are like waking from reality into a dream that is similar to your life; when strange and impossible things happen they somehow make perfect sense because that person, that animal, that inanimate object has a life of its own and is simply going about its existence with no regard for what you expect. The prose is sparse and just descriptive enough, giving the reader a sense of the scene, the mood, and the characters without overbearing it in descriptive language or explaining every strange thing that happens; it is refreshing and complements the content of each story perfectly.
Julie Koh’s Portable Curiosities is exactly what it says on the tin; a collection of curiosities that can easily fit on a purse or pocket. Her writing is modern magic realism, updated myth-making, and caustic satire wrapped in imagination and introspection. Expect to be changed at least a little from reading these stories, and try not to read them before bed; your dreams will never be the same.
Julie Koh’s first full-length collection of short stories, Portable Curiosities, is a strange journey through an unsettling landscape of curious characters in familiar but altered settings. A young girl’s third eye, located in her navel, sees the undetectable and impolite spirit world. A cooler than cool Sydney entrepreneur fashionista media darling chef explores the limits of art, privilege, entitlement, and ice cream, with deadly results. And a young woman steps out of her boyfriend’s BMW into a parade of the gods, ignoring the all-powerful Economist god in favour of a drunken deity with a small dog under one arm.
Koh takes the world as she sees it and makes the reader see it that way too. She touches on themes of isolation, exclusion, racism, sexism, childhood neglect, the disease of over-achieving, and the sterility of living and working in the city. Several of her stories depict the burden of not living up to a particular image or identity and, most of all, not wanting to live up to it because it was flawed to begin with.
Several of her stories embody biting satire, such as The Three-Dimensional Yellow Man, in which Stand-offish Ninja #13 steps out of a cinema screen and embarks on a life of his own. He resolves to spend time on intellectual pursuits and studies the representation of woman in Italian neorealist cinema. When the man is invited to panels and festivals to discuss his work all he is asked about is his yellowness. Before long more ‘yellow cinema refugees’ emerge from the screen and this leads to the following:
Out of a fish and chip shop appeared a tight-lipped, flame-haired woman.
I don’t like it, she said. We’re in danger of being swamped by yellows. They stick to themselves and form ghettos. They’re stealing our jobs. Political correctness is ruining our island. Please explain, she said, because she really didn’t understand.
Her stories have an interesting variety of endings and lessons, each one full of so many layers that I know I’ll re-read this collection and find entirely new meanings and enjoyment from it. Some of the more memorable characters include: the man who lives by a list thinking it will help him beat death by being too quick for it, over-achieving and completely missing the point of life altogether; the woman in the cat café that becomes its own micro-nation, who grows to embrace anarchy, encouraged by a taxidermied tabby that tells her to ‘Annex some shit’; the local council that documents the complaints of a village against Russian musicians in the woods, culminating in the mass slaughter of the musicians and subsequent complaints from the local villagers that the escalated violence was unnecessary and a bit much all round really.
Koh’s stories are like waking from reality into a dream that is similar to your life; when strange and impossible things happen they somehow make perfect sense because that person, that animal, that inanimate object has a life of its own and is simply going about its existence with no regard for what you expect. The prose is sparse and just descriptive enough, giving the reader a sense of the scene, the mood, and the characters without overbearing it in descriptive language or explaining every strange thing that happens; it is refreshing and complements the content of each story perfectly.
Julie Koh’s Portable Curiosities is exactly what it says on the tin; a collection of curiosities that can easily fit on a purse or pocket. Her writing is modern magic realism, updated myth-making, and caustic satire wrapped in imagination and introspection. Expect to be changed at least a little from reading these stories, and try not to read them before bed; your dreams will never be the same.
November 17, 2019
Review originnally posted on A Keyboard and an Open Mind 18 November 2019
What an interesting collection of stories! As I’m getting into writing more short stories myself, I am finding myself drawn more to reading them. This collection from Julie Koh is clever, eyebrow-raising and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.
The stories examine being Asian in a white world, being female in a male world, diversity, capitalism and consumerism, social media influencers, and many other aspects of the modern world. They do so in an absurdist, satirical way.
There were some that I really enjoyed, such as The Magnificent Breasts, an indictment on the male objectification of women, and they way women are gaslit into staying in abusive relationships.
I will be honest that there were others where I got to the end and wasn’t 100% sure what the story had been trying to say. But I really appreciated that these stories were speculative and funny as they satirised the world around us. I have found a lot of the short story genre tends to be very realistic, and lacking humour as it tries to be deep. Or maybe I’m just reading the wrong short stories? Either way, this was a nice break and I definitely intend to pick up Julie Koh’s other collection not too far in the future.
This review is part of my 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge. Click here for more information.
What an interesting collection of stories! As I’m getting into writing more short stories myself, I am finding myself drawn more to reading them. This collection from Julie Koh is clever, eyebrow-raising and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.
The stories examine being Asian in a white world, being female in a male world, diversity, capitalism and consumerism, social media influencers, and many other aspects of the modern world. They do so in an absurdist, satirical way.
There were some that I really enjoyed, such as The Magnificent Breasts, an indictment on the male objectification of women, and they way women are gaslit into staying in abusive relationships.
I will be honest that there were others where I got to the end and wasn’t 100% sure what the story had been trying to say. But I really appreciated that these stories were speculative and funny as they satirised the world around us. I have found a lot of the short story genre tends to be very realistic, and lacking humour as it tries to be deep. Or maybe I’m just reading the wrong short stories? Either way, this was a nice break and I definitely intend to pick up Julie Koh’s other collection not too far in the future.
This review is part of my 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge. Click here for more information.
July 15, 2018
Julie Koh's collection of short stories is unlike anything i've read before. Her satire is sharp and darkly funny and the collection is woven with strands of surreal magical and quietly dystopian strands. I love that so many stories are set in clearly identifiably Sydney settings, albeit weird and futuristic ones. Koh writes characters who are asian, female, non-binary, non-human in a blend of real and surreal that makes reading her stories seem like looking at this world in a dark mirror. I particularly enjoyed her critique of body shaming, beauty standards, fetishisation if race, and gender politics in 'The Fat Girl In History' and the way a bit-part ninja steps out of the movie screen at George St cinemas in 'The Three Dimensional Yellow Man'. If you're tired of the food blogging/masterchef culture you will like 'Cream Reaper' where a Messina-esque, hipster icecream company creates an irresistable soft serve that makes the perfect selfie and has a 50/50 chance of being filled with lethal poison. Even so, my favourite story is 'Sight' which is a strange and beautiful tale of a little girl with a third eye on her belly who can see things nobody else can. I say no more because this is a collection that has to be read and one which im constantly sharing with my senior students. Basically, this review is just a big love letter to Julie Koh!
February 9, 2021
I may have related a little too much to some of these stories. Razor-sharp social critique through surrealism and satire. While I do enjoy a lot of contemporary Australian fiction, this feels like a breath of fresh air. It's reassuring to read someone else with similar proclivities. Standout stories for me were Satirist Rising, Civility Place, Two, Slow Death in Cat Cafe and The Fat Girl in History.
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August 20, 2016Some remarkable insights in here, some brilliant moments of satire and some heartbreak as well. Julie Koh is perceptive and lacerating, clever and funny, and sometimes terribly sad. Great to see stories that step outside the usual run of thoughtful, beautiful, interior musing and into something stranger and wilder, as well as stories that remind us that Australia isn't wall-to-wall white people.
July 14, 2016
I have such love for this book. It made me laugh out loud. At other times it disturbed me in my soul. I'm going to grab my talking taxidermied cat Kenneth Waltz and cede from the Republic of Cat Cafe. Let's play pool!
July 19, 2016
Excellent
Koh can make you laugh in one breath and cringe in horror the next. She deftly handles the narrative so you never know where it's going next. Very enjoyable and looking forward to reading more of her work.
Koh can make you laugh in one breath and cringe in horror the next. She deftly handles the narrative so you never know where it's going next. Very enjoyable and looking forward to reading more of her work.
November 22, 2016
Thought provoking, funny, clever and very readable. Reminded me of Murakami but with more satisfaction and purpose, and Dahl's "Someone Like You" stories. You'll find yourself re-reading sentences (as well as the short stories) because they're so full of wit and meaning.
May 3, 2017
This is a tight, smart collection of stories with great depth. Lots to think about.
December 31, 2017
A quirky collection of stories that manage to have heart as well as being supremely funny. I didn't think all the stories were equally strong though - my favourites were all in the first half, including The Fantastic Breasts, Satirist Rising, The Three-Dimensional Yellow Man and the very dark but genius Cream Reaper, about an icecream entrepreneur whose new product has a 50% chance of killing you on the spot. These stories explore casual racism and misogyny, and our obsession with material wealth, and they do it all with a heavy dose of surreal comedy and witty observation. Julie Koh is definitely Australian talent to watch.
August 10, 2021
Not a single flaw. Not one! As a diehard short story fanatic, Julie Koh’s captivating collection of satirical nuggets impressed me beyond belief. I genuinely cannot think of one issue with the work! Snappy, digestible writing, witty and equally hilarious subject matters, a mastermind of the Surrealist and Magical Realist form and a woman of colour who is also Australian and can actually balance both- I truly couldn’t ask for more. Koh, this one’s made it to my “top-must-read” list. Thank you for getting me out of my reading slump. Now where can I buy your first published work?
January 16, 2018
Brilliant! Julie Koh's depiction of social realities is so spot on--eeriely close to the truth at times and darkly+funnily so. I love how some stories stick to my mind (artists as portable curiosities) and how some exposed the truths of immigration (three-dimensional yellow people) from both the migrant and the local's points of views. Would recommend this! Definitely something to make any reader smarter 😉
January 20, 2025
Ugh it’s so hard reviewing short story collections. All of these are delightfully good. Some of these are absolutely, crushingly perfect. Julie Koh’s brain is creative and funny in a way I profoundly aspire towards.
July 8, 2018
Oddly surreal and strangely compelling.
My fav story is 'Cream Reaper' but that Cat Café!?!
My fav story is 'Cream Reaper' but that Cat Café!?!
September 11, 2024
A few laugh out loud moments. A great collection of short stories
September 24, 2021
I did not expect the murderous cat girl sex workers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews