“[Kyung-ran Jo’s] prose is astoundingly direct on the subject of art and loss . . . But Blowfish is less about sadness and beauty and fear and death as much as the impossibility of reaching through the veil of self-interest to another person.”
—Anabelle Johnston, The Baffler
“A subtle, searing masterpiece.”
—Kerry Cardoza, Chicago Reader
“Postmodernism is alive and well in Kyung-Ran Jo’s latest . . . Blowfish is a book to chew on and savor, a deft delve into the intricacies of love and art.”
—Michael Welch, Chicago Review of Books
“Moody and cinematic.”
—Mahika Dhar, Asian Review of Books
“When I see a novel described as ‘atmospheric’ and ‘melancholic’ I’m immediately foaming at the mouth to read it . . . I can’t wait to get my hands on this strange, dark, lovely novel.”
—McKayla Coyle, Lit Hub
“Languid and moody, this novel explores art, life, love and loss in elegant and deliberate prose.”
—Ms. Magazine
“Remarkably lyrical . . . Blowfish is composed with a simmering desperation Jo manages with impressive control; Kim is again a splendid translator . . . Jo’s complex exploration of living and dying becomes a mindful journey toward possibilities.”
—Terry Hong, Shelf Awareness
“Jo’s atmospheric writing distills the novel’s mood from its settings (Seoul is “the color of oxidized blood”; a Tokyo fish market is “slick and slimy with water and blood and discarded guts”), while details about the sculptor’s family history inform her chilling determination to die. It’s a memorable existential tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This novel invites the readers into a special experience. It follows a woman who, once consumed by thoughts of death, gradually turns toward life, a journey that becomes the author’s profound meditation on the nature of art itself. Amid the turbulence of crisis, the narrative scatters the quiet beauty of human connection like constellations across the story. The writer speaks, with urgent tenderness, to the belief that these glimmering moments of relation are in themselves the essence of art.”
—Kyung-sook Shin, author Please Look After Mom and Violets
“A story about death paradoxically inspires the strong vitality of life. With piercing insight on memory and family, lyrical meditation about love and art, Blowfish is a tenacious and delicate work of fiction.”
—JM Lee, author of The Investigation and Artificial Truth
“Kyung-Ran Jo’s Blowfish, rendered into English with poised and perceptive grace by Chi-Young Kim, is not merely a novel to entertain . . . it invites readers into a profound exploration of the elusive contours of identity, the lingering ache of trauma, and the fragile, often unspoken language of human connection . . . With each precisely chosen phrase and carefully rendered scene, Jo crafts a world that is both hauntingly beautiful and profoundly unsettling . . . This is a book that will linger in the quiet yet unsettling corners of the mind.”
—Tony Huang, Hong Kong Review
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