The Fetishist
a darkly comic tale of rage and revenge – ‘Exceptionally funny, frequently sexy’ Pandora Sykes
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
'Incandescent, astonishing, a miracle' R. O. KWON
'With The Fetishist, Min has left the world something original and highly potent' INDEPENDENT
'Savage, horrible and very funny' i-D MAGAZINE
A daughter seeks revenge on the man she believes drove her mother to her death . . . and nothing goes as planned.
The rain has made everything cold and damp, and it's the perfect evening for Kyoko to exact her revenge. After years of rage and grief over her mother's death, Kyoko has decided who is to blame: a man named Daniel, a fellow violinist who had wooed her mother, Emi, and then dropped her - driving her to her death. Kyoko follows the unsuspecting Daniel home and manages to get her rash kidnapping plot off the ground . . . and really, what could go wrong?
The Fetishist is the story of three people - Kyoko, a young singer in a punk band who cannot find enough ways to channel her angry sorrow; Daniel, a seemingly hapless man who finally faces the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel's life, long adored for her beauty and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved.
It's a beautiful, piercing and timely story that confronts race, ideals of femininity, complicity and visibility. Written and completed before the celebrated author's death in 2019, it's startlingly relevant and prescient, as wise and powerful as it is utterly moving.
'Katherine Min is a singular, wildly talented voice and this is a trailblazing novel' SHARLENE TEO
'The Fetishist is a wild, darkly funny ride' THE I
'Fiercely intelligent, perfectly crafted, and brimming with wit' LISA KO
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.