The Fetishist

August 1, 2023

Kyoko, a singer in a punk band, is finally visiting revenge upon Daniel, the unassuming violinist who charmed her mother when they played together in an orchestra and then dropped her, driving her to her death. Daniel's kidnapping goes easily, but then nothing else happens as planned. The Pushcart Prize winner's posthumously published novel. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2023
Three musicians reckoning with loss search for meaning, healing, and revenge. Despite her tattoos and piercings, Kyoko Tokugawa is shy, preferring to express her biggest emotions on stage with her guitar, or in her murder plot. Kyoko's target is Daniel Karmody, a professional violinist and serial seducer of Asian American women, including Kyoko's mother. In the years since her mother's death, Daniel, the white, philandering fetishist, has haunted Kyoko. In her quest to avenge her mother, Kyoko aims not only to kill Daniel but to destroy him, setting loose the ghosts of his past misdeeds in an attempt to force repentance. Across the country, Alma Soon Ja Lee, a former colleague and fiancee of Daniel's, stares at her cello. With her multiple sclerosis progressing, Alma finds her once-musical life has gone clinically quiet. Alma's surging despair provides an opportunity to examine the characters of her past, including the "rice kings." From the misguided attempts at connection ("I have a black belt in karate, I love Vietnamese food, I think Kurosawa is the Asian Spielberg") to the more menacing advances, Alma inventories her experiences with the men who mistook her for a doll, a vixen, or a colonialist conquest. The lives of Alma, Daniel, and Kyoko echo and interweave, forming a trio of stories in much the same way the characters themselves might, if holding their instruments. The narrative accompanies Kyoko, Alma, and Daniel both forward and backward in time, but it is the past that mires them, pitted with losses that seem not only unavoidable, but addictive. This novel is framed as a fairy tale, perhaps to relieve the concern that these stories, gaping with grief, have sealed a bit too neatly by the end. Still, it is 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.

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November 6, 2023
This spiky posthumous novel from Min (Secondhand World), who died in 2019, combines a story of lost love with a revenge fantasy and a critique of racial fetishism. The narrative revolves around two seemingly unrelated Asian American women: Kyoko, a Baltimore manga artist and punk rocker; and Alma, a retired classical cellist in Southern California, who’s struggling with late-stage multiple sclerosis. Between them stands Daniel Karmody, the washed-up leader of Thanatos—a Baltimore string quartet specializing in performances for the dying. Alma, who was once in a serious relationship with Karmody, writes a wistful Facebook message to him before attempting suicide. Meanwhile, Kyoko, whose late mother, Emi, was a student of Karmody’s, believes he was responsible for Emi’s suicide, and kidnaps him with murderous intent. Locked in Kyoko’s basement, Karmody considers the ways his fetish for Asian women have hurt those in his wake, and ultimately makes amends. Min’s emphasis on Karmody’s redemption in the final act is a curious and somewhat frustrating turn, given that the novel initially sets out to restore a sense of humanity to the women whose lives have been squeezed by stereotypes. Still, the technicolor, Tarantino-esque crime plot can be great fun. This has its moments. Agent: PJ Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.

Starred review from November 1, 2023
This raucous, gorgeous, harrowing novel from Min, who passed away in 2019, was published with help from the author's daughter. Starring in this fairytale gone wrong is Kyoko, a punk rock musician in her early twenties, who harbors a revenge fantasy since the tragic death of her classical musician mother. With help from her sweet boyfriend, Kornell, she endeavors to make the man responsible for her mother's passing, Daniel, pay for his actions. The novel unfolds as a four-sided prism via the complex, intertwined lives of Kyoko and three others; the book's fifth main character is the white male fetishization of Asian women. 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 film, it also offers the rich inner humanity only a novel can. Min's characters are flawed and lovable--even the villains. Ultimately, the story rages against and holds space for the infuriating experience of loving a villain. 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.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2023

This posthumous work from Min (Secondhand World), who passed away in 2019, was completed with collaborative editing efforts from her daughter. Here Min explores the stereotypes of attraction between white men and Asian women. Readers meet three musicians: Daniel Karomody, his fianc�e Alma Soon Ja Lee, and Emi, the woman who came between them. As the story unfolds, Daniel is identified as a fetishist of Asian women. The players in this story all comment on their relationships with one another as well as between races and genders. However, the novel is about more than just these relationships; it also contains unanticipated twists, including a kidnapping and murder plot against Daniel initiated by Emi's daughter Kyoko, with assistance from her boyfriend. The short chapters enable readers to easily follow the rapid shifts of perspective and the storylines that jump between the past and the present. VERDICT Filled with grim humor, Min's novel is an engaging and thoughtful read. Those who enjoyed Charmaine Craig's My Nemesis and Elaine Hsieh Chou's Disorientation are likely to appreciate this final work from Min, which fully reflects her talents as a writer.--Shirley Quan

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