House of Cardboard: A review of Impractical Uses of Cake by Yeoh Jo-Ann
about 40 months ago (01/21/2021)
House of Cardboard: A review of Impractical Uses of Cake by Yeoh Jo-Ann | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles January 21, 2021 By Nathaniel Chew (800 words, 4-minute read) Is it enough to be not unhappy ? This is what Yeoh Jo-Ann’s Impractical Uses of Cake sets out to interrogate, framing the question in terms that speak to both existential crises at large as well as the uniquely Singaporean predicament of progress and prosperity. Yeoh’s novel pokes at the façade of the Singaporean Dream with an eye for the overlooked and a winning sense of humour, though the story’s wide-ranging critique falls short of tying up its primary threads.