The Boy With the Flower That Grew Out of His Ass
Cyril Wong (Math Paper Press, $26)
Winner of the 2006 Singapore Literature Prize, renowned local poet Cyril Wong presents a poignant fairy tale featuring two young boys who find love, linked by their misshapen physiques.
Available at BooksActually

Hack/Slash
Tim Seeley (Devil’s Due Publishing, $30.69)
In this graphic novel, follow Cassie Hack and her enigmatic partner Vlad around America as they hunt down maniacal slashers that come in a variety pack: undead, homicidal and mentally unstable. Armed with her trademark baseball bat and potty mouth, Cassie takes on murderous lesbian cults, demonic rock bands and even her own mother. Memorable characters include Cassie’s pal Georgia Peaches – a Florida stripper with a heart of gold – and Laura Lochs, a psychotic Catholic schoolgirl. Watch out for the film version of Tim Seeley’s landmark comic, which hits the big screen next year.
Alexis Ong
Available at Books Kinokuniya

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Jeanette Winterson (Grove Press, $23.50)
Winterson tells the story of her childhood as an orphan adopted by a family of staunchly Christian evangelists. Her mother raises her by the Bible to be a servant of God. All of this changes when Winterson meets Melanie, an irresistible girl working at a fish stall. Not only is the Whitbread Prize-winning Oranges a coming-of-age tale, it’s also a coming-out story about a girl surrounded by beliefs different to her own.
Sabrina Lee
Available at BooksActually

The Weaklings
Dennis Cooper (Fanzine Press, $68.37)
The Weaklings marks the prolific author/playwright Cooper’s return to poetry – it’s his first collection since 1995 – accompanied by beautiful homoerotic pencil illustrations by Jarrod Anderson. Cooper’s work depicts unabashed loneliness and bad habits; his voyeuristic descriptions of characters are concise and perverted, yet ultimately human.
SL
Available on thefanzine.com