I HAVE THE RIGHT TO DESTROY MYSELF

A ?mesmerizing? novel of a love triangle and a mysterious disappearance in South Korea (Booklist). In the fast-paced, high-urban landscape of Seoul, C and K are brothers who have fallen in love with the same beguiling drifter, Se-yeon, who gives herself freely to both of them. Then, just as they are trying desperately to forge a connection in an alienated world, Se-yeon suddenly disappears. All the while, a spectral, calculating narrator haunts the edges of their lives, working to help the lost and hurting find escape through suicide. When Se-yeon reemerges, it is as the narrator?s new client. Recalling the emotional tension of Milan Kundera and the existential anguish of Bret Easton Ellis, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself is a dreamlike ?literary exploration of truth, death, desire and identity? (Publishers Weekly). Cinematic in its urgency, the novel offers ?an atmosphere of menacing ennui [set] to a soundtrack of Leonard Cohen tunes? (Newark Star-Ledger).   ?Kim?s novel is art built upon art. His style is reminiscent of Kafka?s and also relies on images of paintings (Jacques-Louis David?s ?The Death of Marat,? Gustav Klimt?s ?Judith?) and film (Jim Jarmusch?s ?Stranger Than Paradise?). The philosophy?life is worthless and small?reminds us of Camus and Sartre, risky territory for a young writer. . . . But Kim has the advantage of the urban South Korean landscape. Fast cars, sex with lollipops and weather fronts from Siberia lend a unique flavor to good old-fashioned nihilism. Think of it as Korean noir.? ?Los Angeles Times   ?Like Georges Simenon, [Kim?s] keen engagement with human perversity yields an abundance of thrills as well as chills (and, for good measure, a couple of memorable laughs). This is a real find.? ?Han Ong, author of Fixer Chao