Weeb

The debut novel by the International Booker Prize-winning translator of Taiwan Travelogue, Weeb is an unsettling, addictive story about obsession, identity and the dangerous fictions we tell ourselves to belong.



'Language, obsession, sex... I loved it' Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!

'Hilarious, honest, and smart, Weeb turns cringe into art' Stacey Yu, author of Kitten

'As absorbing as a twenty-episode animé binge' Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection



weeb (noun): slang for a non-Japanese person who is excessively devoted to Japanese culture, even to the point of wishing to adopt a Japanese identity



A recent graduate calling herself 'Rina' moves to Tokyo, ostensibly to launch her academic career, but in truth to pursue something far more private: her obsession with Kagami, the enigmatic hero of her favourite animé.



Fluent in Japanese, a meticulous student and alert to every nuance, Rina begins to construct a version of herself that might almost pass as Japanese. She curates her name, her past and her ambitions, drawing ever closer to the industry that surrounds her idol – and to the voice that brings him to life: the middle-aged actor Fujimoto Fumitaka.



As she burrows deeper into Tokyo's entertainment world, Rina becomes entangled with a cast of performers and outsiders – her Taiwanese idol-in-training neighbour, the eerily perfect child influencer she tutors, her favourite fan artist and an astute hairdresser – and her carefully assembled identity begins to fracture.



'Celebrates the way languages work, the way they project culture, identity, and our deepest desires. Weeb is terrific!' Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story



'An insightful, engaging debut by a talented and exciting writer' Charles Yu, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction