Maggie Su’s novel Blob is a stunning debut, a book as entertaining as it is insightful.
Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:
“Su’s clever conceit provides a catalyst for Vi’s revelatory introspection, as she faces her self-destructive tendencies and the difficulties of being human. The result is a top-notch tale of arrested development.”
In her own words, here is Maggie Su’s Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel Blob:
The premise of my novel is simple: 23-year-old Vi Liu finds a sentient blob outside of a bar, takes it home, and tries to mold it into her perfect partner. Blob is a book about creating a person, both literally and metaphorically, so it’s no surprise that pop culture (music, TV, film, etc.) plays an integral role in shaping the characters. I didn’t listen to anything while drafting this manuscript except ambient coffee shop noise. For me, music is too potent to listen to while I’m writing because it’s so intertwined with memory. I hear “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer and I’m drunk at Arlin’s karaoke the night I met my partner. I hear Martina McBride and I’m eight years old listening to my mom sing in the kitchen. For this playlist, I wanted to pick core memory songs that relate to my characters’ journeys.
“The Rock Show” by Blink-182
Vi blasts this song at 6 a.m. on her way to her dead-end job as a hotel front desk attendant. Much like Vi at the beginning of the novel, this song is very juvenile and stuck in its time. My older brothers loved Blink-182 growing up and I stole their CDs to listen to them in secret. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket is the first album I listened to that included cuss words and for a nine-year-old rule-follower, it felt heady and rebellious to sing along. For Vi, this song is an attempt to recreate that youthful feeling.
“Under the Sea” by Samuel E. Wright
Elliott performs this song at a drag show the same night that Vi finds the blob. I’ve always loved how the upbeat melody masks dark lyrics: The fish on the land ain’t happy / They sad ’cause they in their bowl / But fish in the bowl is lucky / They in for a worser fate / One day when the boss get hungry / Guess who’s gon’ be on the plate? I included these lyrics in the first draft of Blob but I didn’t want to get sued by Disney so they didn’t survive final edits. In the song, the sea is a utopia and life on land is a capitalist misery where any day you might get eaten by your boss. Much like the freedom allowed in the sea, Elliott’s drag performance is an escape from the constraints he feels from the outside world.
“Lonesome Love” by Mitski
Almost any Mitski song would work on this playlist but I’ve always been a sucker for this one. In the morning, in a taxi / I’m so very paying for- / Why am I lonely for lonesome love? It’s a painfully self-reflective song that doesn’t ask “why did you hurt me?” but rather “why do I miss it?” It speaks to how Vi’s fears keep her paying for past relationships.
“Parking Lot” by Indigo de Souza
An alleyway outside of a bar, a McDonald’s parking lot, a semi-submerged apartment–my obsession with liminal spaces is very present in Blob. What I love about De Souza’s song is how she uses the parking lot to externalize the speaker’s feeling of being stuck. She sings, I’m back again, it’s like I never left, I never left. It’s what Vi feels as a townie who grew up in a college town and never left, and at times she defines herself by this stagnancy.
“this is me trying” by Taylor Swift
Folklore came out as I was writing this book in 2020 and I always imagined Vi connecting with this song. I just love the contradiction of the speaker’s weariness mixed with her desire to fix her mistakes. Could’ve followed my fears all the way down / And maybe I don’t quite know what to say / But I’m here in your doorway. It encapsulates Vi’s turning point in the novel and the monumental effort it takes for anyone to try to change their life.
“American Pie” by Don McLean
This song is featured at the end of the novel and was inspired by my older brother’s friend Ben who once performed “American Pie” at a high school concert. He sang all six verses in their entirety, almost nine minutes total, and I remember thinking how brave and ridiculous that was. It was so opposite of anything I could ever imagine doing and yet I never forgot that moment. How sure of himself he must’ve been to take up so much time and trust that the audience would sing along with him.
Maggie Su is a writer and editor. She received a PhD in fiction from University of Cincinnati and an MFA from Indiana University. Her work has appeared in New England Review, Four Way Review, TriQuarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, Juked, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She currently lives in South Bend, Indiana, with her partner, cat, and turtle.