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“A sensation when it appeared in South Korea in 2016, this novel recounts, in the dispassionate language of a case history, the descent into madness of a young wife and mother—a Korean Everywoman whose plight illuminates the effects of a sexist society.”
— New York Times Book Review
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An all-too-familiar tale of a smart woman being slowly crushed by constant, inescapable sexism […] beneath the analytical detachment is a rolling rage that compellingly captures Kim Jiyoung’s frustrations’
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A ground-breaking work of feminist fiction’
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A touchstone for a conversation around feminism and gender […] The character of Kim Jiyoung can be seen as a sort of sacrifice: a protagonist who is broken in order to open up a channel for collective rage. Along with other socially critical narratives to come out of Korea, such as Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film Parasite, her story could change the bigger one’
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A treatise and a howl of anger […] it describes experiences that will be recognisable everywhere. It’s slim, unadorned narrative distils a lifetime’s iniquities into a sharp punch. The books demonstrates the unfairness of the female experience and the sheer difficulty of improving it.’
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'Enthralling and enraging'
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'Jiyoung is no raging feminist, rather a passive vessel, which makes her eventual breakdown all the more powerful, while the calm, matter-of-fact prose style adds to the reader’s growing sense of disquiet.'
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'All the more harrowing for the dry manner in which it is told'
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'To read the book is to imagine being a restive, aggrieved millennial and to trace her path through everyday misogyny.'
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'I loved this novel. Kim Jiyoung’s life is made to seem at once totally commonplace, and nightmarishly over-the-top. As you read, you constantly feel that revolutionary, electric shift, between commonplace and nightmarish. This kind of imaginative work is so important and so powerful. I hope this book sells a million more copies.'
— Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot (shortlisted for The Women's Prize)
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'After reading Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, I started to think about things in a way I hadn’t thought about them before. It reminded me of the unfair treatment I had experienced being a woman and I felt like I was caught off guard.'
— Soo-young, member of Girls' Generation
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'A book with unique implications; I was so impressed.'
— RM, BTS
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'Written with unbearably clear-sighted perspective, Kim JiYoung, Born 1982 possesses the urgency and immediacy of the scariest horror thriller — except that this is not technically horror, but something closer to reportage. I broke out in a sweat reading this book.'
— Ling Ma, author of Severance
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'A fierce and powerful look at modern day Korean society through the lens of a refreshingly new protagonist. Born in 1982, Kim Jiyoung wins us over with her tolerance and strength. She is every one of us who has been invisible.'
— Weike Wang