The Fetishist

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What to expect

'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

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 present, 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.

'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

Critics Review

Incandescent, astonishing, a miracle. I'm elated and deeply grateful this book exists
R. O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries
The Fetishist is an excoriating, challenging work . . . Min's novel is a complex and at times bitingly funny exploration of the fetishisation of Asian women by white men . . . With The Fetishist, Min has left the world something original and highly potent
Independent
Fiercely 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 LEAVERS
Savage, horrible and very funny
i-D Magazine
Blistering and brilliant, The Fetishist will move, anger, and make you wince with recognition. Katherine Min is a singular, wildly talented voice and this is a trailblazing novel which deserves widespread attention for its literary merits as well as the overdue conversations it will surely evoke. As incisive and topical on fetishisation and intersectionality as Kiley Reid's Such a Fun Age and Raven Leilani's Luster.
Sharlene Teo, author of PONTI
Quite the testament to the talent of its author, The Fetishist is a wild, darkly funny ride
The I
THE 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 Exercise and American Woman
THE 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
Elegant and savage . . . The Fetishist is a vivid and thorough probing of sex and desire. It's exceptionally funny, frequently sexy and written with sly verve: it's somehow both sneaky and confronting, winding around and around the point whilst also decking you in the face with it
Pandora Sykes
Exploring race and sexual politics, forgiveness and desire, the book is hilariously funny and often sexy, all while being deeply thought-provoking
Independent
Riveting, devastatingly honest and deliciously savage . . . A beautiful and timely story that confronts ideas of race, femininity, complicity and culpability, this is a startlingly prescient - and brilliantly written - read
Harper's Bazaar

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