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Red Dot Irreal

by Jason Erik Lundberg (Goodreads Author)

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 14 ratings · 3 reviews

Travel to Southeast Asia on wings of the fantastic for Jason Erik Lundberg's debut short-story collection Red Dot Irreal.

There you'll meet pirates and shamans, wise fish and mystical storytellers, living monuments and paper animals, time travelers and civet cats, stone taxi drivers, floating dental patients, and a sentient bird park. Once you enter the surreal worlds of Lu...more

Paperback, 164 pages

Published October 2011 by Math Paper Press

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Mar 07, 2013 Marc Faoite rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first thing that struck me about Jason Erik Lundberg’s debut collection Red Dot Irreal was the obvious care and attention that had been given to the design and layout of this book, published by Singapore based Math Paper Press. The semi-transparent dust cover, the choice of bordered paper, the hypnotic geometrical designs that precede each story and the quality of the print and typeface all conspire to entice and seduce. In an age where e-readers are encroaching on the market share of paper...more The first thing that struck me about Jason Erik Lundberg’s debut collection Red Dot Irreal was the obvious care and attention that had been given to the design and layout of this book, published by Singapore based Math Paper Press. The semi-transparent dust cover, the choice of bordered paper, the hypnotic geometrical designs that precede each story and the quality of the print and typeface all conspire to entice and seduce. In an age where e-readers are encroaching on the market share of paper books Lundberg’s little volume of collected stories manages to achieve something that electronic hard and software cannot. Of course we all know the overused dictum about judging books from their covers, but the visual and tactile pleasure of handling this paper book made an engaging first impression. And, as we know, first impressions always last.

Though the writer himself, like many young writers, is also an enthusiastic advocate of electronic media (his book is available electronically on eight, yes eight different vending platforms no less, as well as Print-On-Demand ) the affection he has for ‘Dead Tree’ books is evident before you even read the first page.
Lundberg’s love of books and writing becomes even more obvious once you start to read. His stories are crafted with the same precision and care as the paper edition and confirm and reaffirm the positive first impression.

All of the ten tales in this collection are set in the author’s adopted home of Singapore, a place familiar to many of this column's readers of course, but through these stories we see the place in a very different light. And of course it isn’t necessary to know Singapore to enjoy this book.

Lundberg’s Singapore is a most unusual place. While his stories feature familiar names and places, Raja Brookes, the Merlion, Raffles, Orchard Road, his stories are fantastical and magical in range, where the borders of real and unreal, of possible and improbable are blurred and warped and stretched by the author’s inspired imagination. He shifts through genres of magical realism, science fiction and Victorian steam-punk to make up, what he himself labels, ‘Equatorial Fantastika’.

We meet an interesting and unlikely cast of characters and beings ranging from rampaging buildings, to rapacious pirates, time travellers, a talking fish who lives in a tank in a food court and more besides.

Both Lundbergh’s sensitivity and ear for language are evident throughout. The first story in the collection, and the longest, is entitled ‘Bogeymen.’ It is set in the Victorian era and told in a style much reminiscent of authors of that time, but that doesn’t put him above throwing in the occasional colloquial ‘lah’, ‘lorh’ or ‘ah’ where required.

The title of his book comes from the fact that Singapore, being so small, is often obscured on world maps by the red dot that indicates its location. Lundberg’s little book skilfully manages to both obscure and reveal this tiny island republic in fresh and exciting ways.

Many of these stories here have been previously featured elsewhere, mostly in Singaporean literary press, but this is the first time that they have been gathered together in one volume.

Red Dot Irreal is a small book, where the emphasis, from design and print, through to the writing, is clearly focused more on quality than on quantity. If you are looking for a new door stop then this is not the book for you, but if you want to take a brief, but magical, trip through the imaginarium of Lundberg’s Singapore then Red Dot Irreal makes for a unique and unforgettable otherworldly read.
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Dec 10, 2011 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars

A most excellent collection of short fiction set in Singapore or parts surrounding.

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Dec 13, 2011 Didi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Contained ten short stories.

Local mystique with a dash of time travel. After reading this, can't help but feel like you know A LOT about the author as he incorporates bits of what he knows best (wife, daughter, Neil Gaiman) into his tales.

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About Jason Erik Lundberg

Jason Erik Lundberg is the author of several books of the fantastic — Embracing the Strange (2013), The Alchemy of Happiness (2012), Red Dot Irreal (2011), The Time Traveler's Son (2008), Four Seasons in One Day (with Janet Chui, 2003) and The Curragh of Kildaire (2001) — two children's picture books — A New Home For Bo Bo and Cha Cha (2012) and Bo Bo and Cha Cha's Big Day Out (2013) — and more th...more

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