In this hilariously savage, poignant novel by acclaimed author Katherine Min, a grieving daughter’s revenge on the man who caused her mother’s death sets off a series of unexpected reckonings.
On a cold, gloomy night, twenty-three-year-old Kyoko stands in the rain with a knife in her hoodie’s pocket. Her target is Daniel, who seduced Kyoko’s mother then callously dropped her, leading to her death. But tonight, there will be repercussions. Following the unsuspecting Daniel home, Kyoko manages to get a rash kidnapping plot off the ground . . . and then nothing goes as planned.
The Fetishist is the story of three people—Kyoko, a Japanese American punk-rock singer full of rage and grief; Daniel, a philandering violinist forced to confront the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel’s life, a Korean American cello prodigy long adored for her beauty, passion, and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved.
An exuberant, provocative story that confronts race, complicity, visibility, and ideals of femininity, The Fetishist was written before the celebrated author’s untimely death in 2019. Startlingly prescient, as wise and powerful as it is utterly delightful, this novel cements Katherine Min’s legacy as a writer with a singular voice for our times.
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"[A] raucous, gorgeous, harrowing novel . . . Min’s narration plays with the shapes, sounds, and anagrams of her words to give richness to the story, which bullets forth in theatrical fashion, distended with tension, until the final, exquisite burst. Though it’s as fun as a blockbuster, it also offers the rich inner humanity only a novel can. Min's characters are flawed and lovable—even the villains. . . . A farce that deftly tackles shame, grief, parents, chronic illness, colonialism, and the hollowness of enmity in a systemically unjust world? Magic. Min’s wit and wisdom live on."
— Booklist (starred review)
Sensitive and insightful, and its detangling of the knot that is racism, otherness, and desire is nothing short of expert. A tenderly told tale of the losses that wreck and redeem us.
— Kirkus ReviewsFiercely intelligent, perfectly crafted, and brimming with wit, The Fetishist is a moving exploration of art, love, grief, and desire. Katherine Min’s sentences will provoke you and wind their way around your heart.
— Lisa Ko, author of Memory Piece and The LeaversThe Fetishist is so reverent and so unruly, so delicate and so explosive, such a merge of chamber music with the mosh pit, so devastatingly sad and devastatingly funny and alive and generous with its abundance of life! I mourn Katherine Min, and am grateful this fiery novel of hers insisted its way out of Katherine’s laptop and into the world. Hats off to Kayla Min Andrews for clearing the path.
— Susan Choi, author of Trust ExerciseThe Fetishist is lit from the very first page with a wicked, crackling, hilarious intensity. The subject is provocative, the writing is flush with elegance and intelligence. I finished this book and immediately wanted to talk about it with someone. It's a fire-starter of a novel.
— Jami Attenberg, author of The MiddlesteinsFiercely intelligent, perfectly crafted, and brimming with wit, The Fetishist is a moving exploration of art, love, grief, and desire. Katherine Min’s sentences will provoke you and wind their way around your heart.
— Lisa Ko, author of The LeaversFiercely intelligent, perfectly crafted, and brimming with wit, The Fetishist is a moving exploration of art, love, grief, and desire. Katherine Min’s sentences will provoke you and wind their way around your heart.
— Lisa Ko, author of The LeaversIncandescent, astonishing, a miracle. I’m elated and deeply grateful this book exists.
— R. O. Kwon, author of The IncendiariesSpiky . . . Sets out to restore a sense of humanity to the women whose lives have been squeezed by stereotypes. . . . [A] technicolor, Tarantino-esque crime plot . . . Great fun.
— Publishers WeeklyBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Eunice Wong is a classically trained actor who works extensively in professional theaters across the United States and in New York City, as well as having appeared on HBO, NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, and in various independent films. Eunice is a graduate of the Juilliard School Drama Division Actor Training Program and has also studied piano and singing at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. A first-generation Chinese Canadian, born in Toronto to Eric and Eleanor Wong, who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong, Eunice grew up with her brother Eugene in Toronto and thanks her family for their constant love and support.