Y/N
A Novel
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4.1 • 9 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Finalist for the 2023 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2023
New York Times 2023 Critics' Pick
New Yorker Best Book of 2023 (Essential Read)
NPR Best Book of 2023
TIME Must-Read Book of 2023
Bookshop.org Best Book of 2023
Chicago Public Library Favorite Book of 2023
Ms. Magazine Best Book of 2023
It’s as if her life only began once Moon appeared in it. The desultory copywriting work, the boyfriend, and the want of anything not-Moon quickly fall away when she beholds the idol in concert, where Moon dances as if his movements are creating their own gravitational field; on livestreams, as fans from around the world comment in dozens of languages; even on skincare products endorsed by the wildly popular Korean boyband, of which Moon is the youngest, most luminous member. Seized by ineffable desire, our unnamed narrator begins writing Y/N fanfic—in which you, the reader, insert [Your/Name] and play out an intimate relationship with the unattainable star.
Surreal, hilarious, and shrewdly poignant, Y/N is a provocative literary debut about the universal longing for transcendence and the tragic struggle to assert one’s singular story amidst the amnesiac effects of globalization. Esther Yi’s prose unsettles the boundary between high and mass art, exploding our expectations of a novel about “identity” and offering in its place a sui generis picture of the loneliness that afflicts modern life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Yi's stunning debut, a writer becomes obsessed with a K-pop idol. When the unnamed narrator sees a boy band's performance, she's struck with an overpowering love for one of the members, Moon. After, her fandom verges on religious devotion, and she does whatever she can to feel close to Moon, even if it means losing her boyfriend or risking her job. She begins writing stories about meeting him, identifying her protagonist as "Y/N" (your name), so that her readers can imagine themselves as Y/N. When Moon announces he's leaving the group and retreating from the spotlight, the narrator flies to Seoul to find him, where her fervor increases. Yi brings a distinctive voice and lush prose to her depiction of the narrator's fixation, which culminates in a contest for fans to meet the band and intertwines with the narrator's Y/N stories: "One evening, Y/N and Moon buy a pair of codfish and let the bodies hiss parallel in the pan until the smell fills their tiny apartment like the spirit of a third person." The narrator's feelings for Moon are complex and varied, which makes her quest endlessly intriguing. Strange, haunting, and undeniably beautiful, this shines.
