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And Other Stories
by Cho Nam-joo
From the international best-selling author of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, a collection exploring the intimacies of contemporary Korean womanhood.
A woman is born. A woman is filmed in public without consent. A woman suffers domestic violence. A woman is gaslit. A woman is discriminated against at work. A woman grows old. A woman becomes famous. A woman is hated, and loved, and then hated again.
Written in Cho Nam-joo's signature razor-sharp prose, Miss Kim Knows follows eight women, ranging from preteens to octogenarians, as they confront how gender shapes and orders their lives. In "Under the Plum Tree," Mallyeo feels existential as she bears witness to her sister's final days; in "Dear Hyunnam Oppa," a college graduate musters the courage to leave her partner; and in "Grown-Up Girl," a mother finally confronts her generational biases for the sake of her daughter. "Despite her characters' hardship and disappointments, there is mischief and glee to be found in these pages" (Hephzibah Anderson, Observer), resulting in another riveting read from an essential voice in world literature.
"While some of the stories, including 'Puppy Love, 2020,' set during the Covid-19 pandemic, are relatively slight, most are fueled by a palpable sense of rebellion. Taken together, the chorus of voices produces a stirring feminist anthem." —Publishers Weekly
"Spare but never stark, weary but never despairing, Cho's trim prose examines the under-seen world of women with a keen appreciation for all the possibilities for their lives―including the ones they themselves may not be able to imagine. This subtle collection is elegant, honest, and empowering." ―Kirkus Reviews
"In her provocatively insightful eight-story collection, lauded Korean writer Cho again centers women at home, school, work, out in the world, and cloistered in old age. Cho's repeated use of 'Kim' for unrelated characters' surnames, including in her internationally bestselling Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (2016), suggests the Korean equivalent of Smith, brilliantly channeling the every(wo)man experience in her empathic, revealing narratives." ―Booklist
"Set in Korea, these stories give readers a hard look at the universality found among humans. This is another winner for Cho and a good selection for readers who are looking for bite-sized stories to ponder. These brief stories pack quite a bit into their narratives." ―Library Journal
"These eight stories feature women of all ages who struggle with discrimination, domestic violence, dysfunctional workplaces, and domesticity. Nam-joo even takes inspiration from her own life for a story in which a Seoul-based author releases a divisive feminist novel. (Nam-joo was both celebrated and derided for her 2020 international best-seller, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, a revolutionary work that has sold over one million copies.) The result is a thought-provoking anthology for the #MeToo age." ―TIME
This information about Miss Kim Knows was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Cho Nam-joo was born in 1978 in Seoul, South Korea. She graduated from the Department of Sociology of Ehwa Women's University, and was a television scriptwriter for nine years. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is her third novel, and was based partly on her own experience as a woman who quit her job to stay at home after giving birth to a child. It has had a profound impact on gender inequality and discrimination in Korean society, and has been translated into 18 languages. Cho lives with her family in Seoul.
Name Pronunciation
Cho Nam-joo: cho NAM-joo. The vowel sound in "Nam" is similar to "am."
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