In this bookclub we aim to read and discuss notable yet often overlooked works of literature, with a focus on independently published works. Books in translation, essay collections — you can't pigeonhole taste.
Tuesday, November 21, 6:30 PM
Whale, novel by Cheon Myeong-Kwan (Author), Chi-Young Kim (Translator)
A sweeping, multi-generational tale blending fable, farce, and fantasy--a masterpiece of modern fiction perfect for fans of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
A woman sells her daughter to a passing beekeeper for two jars of honey. A baby weighing fifteen pounds is born in the depths of winter but named “Girl of Spring.” A storm brings down the roof of a ramshackle restaurant to reveal a hidden fortune. These are just a few of the events that set Myeong-kwan Cheon’s beautifully crafted, wild world in motion.
Whale, set in a remote village in South Korea, follows the lives of many linked characters, including Geumbok, an extremely ambitious woman who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle. Brimming with surprises and wicked humor, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions by one of the most original voices in international literature.
FORTHCOMING PICKS FOR THE UNICORN BOOKCLUB
PAST PICKS FOR THE UNICORN BOOKCLUB
October 2023:
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May 2023:
April 2023: Birthday Party
March 2023: Two Sherpas
February 2023: I Fear My Pain Interests You
January 2023: Septology (Books 1-2)
December 2022: The Bear Woman
November 2022: Hard Rain Falling
October 2022: The Hole
September 2022: The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon, by Fabio Zuker & Ezra Fitz
August 2022: Bad Eminence, by James Greer
July 2022: When Women Kill, by Alia Trabucco Zeran
June 2022: Paradais, by Fernanda Melchor
May 2022: Four Lost Cities, by Annalee Newitz
April 2022: When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamin Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West
March 2022: The Employees, by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken
February 2022: Peach Blossom Paradise, by Ge Fei, translated by Canaan Morse
January 2022: Nina Simone's Gum, by Warren Ellis
December 2021: His Name Was Death, by Rafael Bernal
November 2021: Pity the Beast, by Robin McLean
October 2021: The Things We've Seen, by Agustin Fernandez Mallo
June 2020: Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir, by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman
May 2020: In the Distance, novel by Hernan Diaz
February 2020: Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism by John Patrick Leary
January 2020: Circus by Wayne Koestenbaum
December 2019: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
November 2019: Mount Analogue by René Daumal
October 2019: Polyglot Lovers by Lina Wolff
September 2019: As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
August 2019: Love Drones by Noam Dorr
July 2019: Devil Comes to Town
June 2019: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
May 2019:
April 2019: Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esmé Weijun Wang.
March 2019: The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
February 2019: Solar Bones by Mike McCormack.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
January 2019: Samuel Johnson's Eternal Return by Martin Riker.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
December 2018: Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
November 2018: Destroy All Monsters: The Last Rock Novel by Jeff Jackson.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
October 2018: You Could Do Something Amazing with Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] by Andrew Hankinson.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
September 2018: Comemadre by .
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
August 2018: The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper, published by Featherproof Books in 2015.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
July 2018: A Loving, Faithful Animal by Josephine Rowe, published by Catapult in September 2017.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
June 2018: Her Mother’s Mother’s Mother and Her Daughters by Maria José Silveira, published by Open Letter Books in December 2017, and translated from the Portuguese by Eric M. B. Becker.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
May 2018: Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard, published by Open Letter in November 2014, and translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
April 2018: Farewell, Damascus by Ghada Samman, published by Darf Publishers in October 2017, and translated from the Arabic by Nancy Roberts.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
March 2018: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated from the French by Alison Anderson, published by Europa Editions in 2008.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
February 2018: Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews, published by New Directions in 2004.
BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ONLINE HERE, OR IN THE STORE.
