Monika Kim is a second-generation Korean-American living in Los Angeles’ Koreatown.
In her first novel, The Eyes are the Best Part, she writes:
Ji-won is a seemingly normal college student whose life unravels after her father’s departure and the arrival of her mother’s creepy new Caucasian boyfriend, George. After eating a fish eye for luck during a traditional Korean meal, Ji-won develops a morbid obsession with George’s blue eyes, culminating in acts of violence that confront the white male gaze in a very literal fashion.At the Guardian Kim tagged five favorite titles for readers who "have the intestinal fortitude for body horror tales." One novel on the list:
The Vegetarian by Han KangRead about the other entries on the list.
Yeong-hye is stuck in a nightmare. Against her family’s wishes, she has become a vegetarian. When her family physically forces her to eat meat, they set in motion a series of events that will change her life for ever. Han Kang’s writing is beautiful and evocative, and her ambitious novel tackles mental illness, consent, misogyny and autonomy.
The Vegetarian is among Adam Biles's top ten allegories, M. S. Coe's eleven titles about women on the brink, and Amy Sackville's ten top novels about painters.
--Marshal Zeringue
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