The Fetishist is a novel by Katherine Min, published in 2024. The introduction was written by Cathy Park Hong, a poet. [1]
It is Min's second, and final, novel. [2]
Min was a Korean American. [3]
The author used Lolita as inspiration. [4]
The novelist wrote the novel until 2014, when a diagnosis of breast cancer caused her to decide to stop creating fiction. In 2019, the author died. [1] The author did not leave a document stating what should be done with the writing. [5]
Kayla Min Andrews, [2] the author's daughter, obtained a computer that had a copy of the work, and this was used to have the book published. [1] Lauren LeBlanc of the Los Angeles Times wrote "For an ostensibly unfinished manuscript, it was remarkably polished." [2] This version had author's notes. The file with the copy had been worked on last before Min learned she had cancer. [2]
The main characters are Alma Soon Ja Lee, a Korean American musician; Daniel Karmody, an Irish American musician; and Kyoko Tokugawa, a Japanese American woman. [4]
Alma, from California, has multiple sclerosis, [6] which is certain to kill her. [7] Alma previously played the cello. [6] Alma and Daniel were in a relationship, but this relationship failed, [4] because Daniel cheated on her with Emi Tokugawa, Kyoko's mother. [1] Daniel then went on to have affairs with other Asian American women. The novel describes Daniel as having a sexual fetish for Asian American women, among them Emi Tokugawa, [4] who had committed suicide due to Daniel giving her rejection. [2] Daniel, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, played the string quartet and lead a musical group called "Thanatos." [6] 23-year-old Kyoko, [4] a resident of Baltimore, draws comics in a manga style, [6] and does singing work for a band with a punk rock theme. [7]
Kyoko has a grudge against Daniel and wishes to kill him. [4] Kyoko kidnaps Daniel, [2] and places him in the basement of her residence. Ultimately Daniel realizes that he had done wrong actions in the past and decides to atone for them. [6]
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People ranked the novel as one of the "Best Books To Read in January 2024", 14/21. [8] It cited Marion Winik of the Seattle Times , who described the novel as "a delightful, fantastic novel". [1]
Sophia Nguyen of the Washington Post described the work as "ahead of its time". [5] Lauren Leblanc of the Los Angeles Times also described the book as such. [2]
Publishers Weekly stated that "the technicolor, Tarantino-esque crime plot can be great fun." [6] The PW review stated that The Fetishist "initially sets out to restore a sense of humanity to" Daniel's victims, and that how Daniel atones and how the novel focuses on that "is a curious and somewhat frustrating" development. [6]