That Night By The Beach and Other Stories
Out of stock
A mysterious woman visits a patient in the middle of the night; a mute girl smiles ‘thank you’ to a music shop assistant; the guilty revisit the scene of their crime; a soldier enters a room. Drawing inspiration from the music of 19th and 20th century Europe, this debut collection of stories is an experiment in language and form, seeking to capture loss and betrayal the way music would: aural experiences of nostalgia and heartache evoked through melody and harmony.
".....this collection of short stories begin with music as a source of inspiration: music that would either make for an enjoyable listening experience, or the context or structure or history of which is related to themes dealing with the inevitable of the everyday – of loss, death and betrayal.
Like their sources of inspiration, these stories are journeys in form and sound, postcards of passing moods and moments, intended for reading in the quiet of a sleepless night or solely for entertainment. And as with alcohol, if consumed in the right amount, it leaves the drinker with a mixture of nostalgia and a pleasant light-headedness.
Or perhaps, the stories can be enjoyed as one enjoys the description of an unwatched film but the soundtrack of which one has already heard and fallen in love with."
- Excerpt from the Preface.
Paperback
$16.80 SGD
Reviews
“The stories are a melodic delight. The whole idea is intriguing and Phan has successfully intertwined the silent music in the writing - it all flows beautifully. The prose itself is sensitive and lyrical and insightful and full of charm. These are tales to be read quietly and in peaceful surroundings – for they have a meditative quality to them - and Phan is to be congratulated for an original and beautifully written piece of work.” - Meira Chand, author of A Different Sky and A Choice of Evils
“I am yet to read words such as these that evoke with great delicacy so much that we each carry within - from dazzling hope to deep wilderness. Phan Ming Yen’s virtuoso score transforms a fleeting moment into an unforgettable episode, each story poised elegantly at the crossroads of poetry, music and dreams.” - Kunal Basu, author of The Yellow Emperor’s Cure and The Japanese Wife
Recommended Books
Fiction
Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-book
$24.00 SGD
catskull
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Singa-Pura-Pura: Malay Speculative Fiction from Singapore
Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD
After the Inquiry
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
Heartland (new edition)
Paperback
$16.00 SGD
E-book
$16.00 SGD
How We Live Now: Stories of Daily Living
Paperback
$14.00 SGD
E-book
$14.00 SGD
Potong: To Care/Cut
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Shezlez the Self-Proclaimed
Reader
$12.00 SGD
My New Monster Truck
Reader
$6.00 SGD
Big Book
$35.00 SGD
Mango the Cat
Reader
$7.00 SGD
Big Book
$50.00 SGD
Fried Eggs
E-book
$0.00 SGD
Why Our Great Leader was Not So Great and Not Much of a Leader
E-book
$0.00 SGD
The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Singapura
E-book
$0.00 SGD
Found Texts of the AAI Anon, Circa 3119: Eight Lyric Essays
E-book
$0.00 SGD
2719
Paperback
$32.71 SGD
E-book
$32.71 SGD
Memorandum
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
In This Desert, There Were Seeds
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Collected Plays Three
Paperback
$14.00 SGD
E-book
$14.00 SGD
Interpreter of Winds
Paperback
$12.00 SGD
E-book
$12.00 SGD
Giving Alms
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
The Gods Will Hear Us Eventually
Paperback
$16.00 SGD
Hook and Eye: Stories from the Margins
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
The First Five: A New Collection of Southeast Asian Writing
Out of print
Paperback
$15.00 SGD
E-book
$15.00 SGD
Payoh
Paperback
$20.56 SGD
this is how you walk on the moon: an anthology of anti-realist fiction
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Dream Storeys
Board Book
$18.30 SGD
Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel
Paperback
$10.00 SGD
Belfast
Paperback
$10.00 SGD
The Cuckoo Conundrum
Gift Box Set
$25.00 SGD
The NTU-NAC Writing Residencies Chapbooks (Gift Box Set)
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
3
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Blood Collected Stories
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
These Foolish Things & Other Stories
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Cherry Days
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
First Fires
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
When a Flower Dies
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
The Adopted: Stories from Angkor
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Corridor: 12 Short Stories
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
Lost Nostalgia
Out of stock
Paperback
$9.25 SGD
Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel Singapore: A Fun Activity Book
Out of stock
Paperback
$40.00 SGD
Singapore Siu Dai Box Set
Out of stock
Paperback
$13.00 SGD
Singapore Siu Dai 3: The SG Conversation Dabao!
Out of stock
Paperback
$10.00 SGD
Saint
Out of stock
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
A Family Portrait
Out of stock
Out of print
Default Title
$9.90 SGD
Eye/Feel/Write For You
Out of stock
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
The Tessellated Path
Out of stock
Box Set
$206.25 SGD
Interlogue Series Collection (8 Volumes)
Out of stock
Out of print
Paperback
$15.00 SGD
Underground and Other Stories
Out of stock
Default Title
$16.00 SGD
The Story of Ms. Poet
Out of stock
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
The Proper Care of Foxes
Out of stock
Default Title
$14.00 SGD
The Girl Who Made It Snow in Singapore
Out of stock
Out of print
Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.
Magical, luminous things
Feb 19, 2022
I have flown across an ocean this week. This still sounds surreal to say.
Read more
No negotiation for blood debt
Feb 14, 2022
The Burmese language resistance poetry is deeply embedded in the country’s colonial past. When mo...
Read more
Burning holes in the darkness
Feb 7, 2022
Poets killed in broad daylight, writers tortured and maimed. I wonder if their ghosts watch on fr...
Read more