Maggie Su’s 'Blob' explores love, loneliness, and self-discovery
A semi-surreal debut novel where a mysterious blobfish-like creature sparks emotional growth and transformation.
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| Illustration by Volodymyr Kozin |
By Hayu Andini and Adila Ghina
Blob: A Love Story, by Maggie Su
Maggie Su’s debut novel, Blob, is an enchanting and semi-surreal exploration of love, loneliness, and self-discovery. Through the lens of Vi, a 24-year-old half-Asian college dropout living in a quiet Midwestern town, Su weaves a narrative that balances absurdity with poignant truths about identity and connection. Vi’s journey unfolds as she encounters a peculiar creature that sets her on a path of emotional reckoning and growth.
Vi is at a low point in her life. Stuck working the front desk at the Hillside Inn and Suites, a budget hotel where she spends more time playing solitaire than engaging with her overly enthusiastic co-worker or the awkward assistant manager, she struggles with feelings of disconnection and aimlessness. One rainy night, her monotonous existence takes an unexpected turn when she encounters a strange creature outside a dive bar—a gelatinous blobfish-like being described as “a beige gelatin splotch the size of a dinner plate.”
This mysterious creature, which Vi eventually names Bob, is not a fish. Bob becomes the only fantastical element in Su’s otherwise realistic world. Vi takes Bob home, and in an unexpected transformation, the blob evolves into a human—a tall, muscular, blue-eyed man with “washboard abs” and movie-star good looks. Inspired by Vi’s shared photos of heartthrobs like Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Bob emerges as an idealized male form.
In the early days of Bob’s transformation, Vi and her creation spend most of their time idling at home, watching reality TV, cooking shows, and the occasional episode of Jeopardy! The pace reflects not only Bob’s slow physical development—his legs are the last to form—but also Vi’s stagnant emotional state. Recently dumped by her ex-boyfriend, Luke, a “generic white man,” Vi wrestles with feelings of alienation. Luke’s photographs of her, which she describes as making her look “very sad and very Asian,” underscore her identity struggles.
Compounding her sense of rootlessness, Vi’s Taiwanese father and white mother, while supportive, fail to fully grasp her internal conflicts. Her disconnection deepens when she discovers her parents have sold her childhood home without telling her. In Bob, she finds a kind of solace—a being who fills the emotional void and offers her a reprieve from societal expectations to finish school, settle down, and pursue conventional milestones.
However, Bob’s transformation from a mute, submissive blob to an independent human being disrupts Vi’s fragile sense of control. As he learns about the world—mostly through watching PBS—Bob begins to question his place in it. “I’m a slave,” he declares, expressing his frustration with being shaped entirely by Vi’s desires. This rebellion forces Vi to confront her own insecurities and dependency on external validation.
Vi’s relationship with Bob is both humorous and deeply introspective. The novel cleverly incorporates fairy-tale undertones reminiscent of The Frog Prince, where a creature must be nurtured and accepted before transforming into a love object. Yet, it also draws comparisons to Frankenstein, with Bob paralleling Shelley’s monster. While Frankenstein’s creation learns about humanity through Paradise Lost, Bob absorbs his understanding of the world through television. Despite their shared bond, the connection between creator and creation is inherently flawed, with Vi reflecting on the inevitable distance between them: “Now he’s just like everyone else. He has needs and desires beyond me, an internal life that I have no access to. He could leave without me ever knowing why.”
This tension between intimacy and independence forms the emotional core of the story. Vi grapples with the ambiguity of her bond with Bob—is he a love interest or a surrogate child? The novel raises profound questions about the nature of relationships and the limits of human connection. While Bob’s transformation initially soothes Vi’s loneliness, his growing autonomy forces her to reckon with her own need for self-acceptance and emotional resilience.
Amidst this surreal narrative, Su masterfully balances humor and poignancy. Vi’s sharp wit and deadpan observations lend levity to the story, while her internal reflections reveal the vulnerability beneath her sarcasm. Her friendship with Elliott, a “Chinese drag queen frat bro lawyer” who enlists her to be his “beard,” adds further layers of humor and complexity, showcasing Su’s ability to depict unconventional relationships with authenticity and charm.
Though Su leaves certain depths unexplored—such as the philosophical implications of Bob’s transformation or the full emotional weight of Vi’s identity struggles—the novel remains a sharp and engaging commentary on self-discovery. Vi’s journey is less about finding answers and more about embracing the uncertainties of life and relationships.
Blob ultimately transcends its whimsical premise to deliver a heartfelt exploration of what it means to connect—with another being and with oneself. Vi’s emotional evolution is as transformative as Bob’s physical metamorphosis. By the novel’s end, Vi begins to let go of her need for external validation, finding strength in her own sense of identity.
Maggie Su’s debut is a testament to her skill as a storyteller, blending surreal elements with grounded emotional truths. With its mix of humor, absurdity, and poignant reflection, Blob is a compelling examination of love, loneliness, and the complexities of human connection. For readers seeking a novel that challenges conventions while delivering sharp wit and heartfelt insight, Blob is an unforgettable journey into the absurd and the profoundly human.
