Yu & Me Books
Book Talk | Tailbone by Che Yeun
Book Talk | Tailbone by Che Yeun
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Set in Seoul in 2008, Tailbone follows the story of an unnamed teenage girl who, after years of struggling with her alcoholic father’s abuse, and what she sees as her mother’s cowardice, decides to run away. At a boarding house for single women, the narrator is pulled into the orbit of one of the other girls living there: an older girl named Juju, whose beauty and hardscrabble determination greatly impress the narrator.
But when a global financial crisis reaches Korea, fears of a wider economic collapse bring the city to a standstill. Everything the girls have come to rely on for survival—mainly, the patronage of wealthy men—is put at risk. Everyone begins to struggle, especially Juju, who has long been dependent on one particular benefactor, a man who is all too aware of his power over her. As businesses close and winter sets in, the narrator is forced to reckon with not only her deepening fear for Juju’s future, but also her own uncertain path. Will she stay on the run or go back home to her heartbroken mother? In a city where everything rots from greed and desperation, what can a helpless woman like Juju teach her about survival? Will their hope for each other ignite courage or destruction?
A poignant tale about survival, the impact of colonial and familial violence, class, privilege, and womanhood, Tailbone is a powerful and thrilling novel from a blazing new talent.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Che Yeun’s short fiction can be found in Granta, AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. Her work has received grants from Hedgebrook, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the David T.K. Wong Fellowship. After completing her PhD in History of Science at Harvard University, she is currently a professor of History of Science & Technology at Texas A&M University. She was born in Seoul, Korea.
Sanaë Lemoine is a novelist and cookbook author, ghostwriter, and collaborator. She is the author of the novel The Margot Affair, a New York Times Editors' Choice. Raised in France and Australia, Sanaë now lives in Brooklyn.
Courtney Zoffness is the author of the memoir-in-essays SPILT MILK (McSweeney's 2021), and winner of the Sunday Times Short Story Award, the largest international prize for short fiction. She's received fellowships from The Center for Fiction, MacDowell, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Believer, BOMB, and elsewhere. She directs the Creative Writing Program at Drew University.
