Blowfish

'If you wanted to end your life instantly, perfectly, you needed practice and preparation.'

A sculptor and architect cross paths once in Seoul, and they meet again in Tokyo.

The sculptor has decided she is going to die. She is learning to prepare a fatal serving of blowfish. This was how her grandmother killed herself, in front of her husband and child. Delicate, artful but with a sense of guaranteed finality.

The architect's life has been marred by death. His elder brother leapt to his death from the fifth floor of an apartment building. He too is pondering his own exit from this life.

For the woman, the man is a pitstop on the road to her own suicide. For the man, the woman is way to forestall his death and offer him an exit. Through the impressions they leave on each other, they reflect on their own lives.

Taking readers through various urban spaces of Seoul and Tokyo, Blowfish delves into the inner lives of two people contemplating their failures in love and art. What truly makes life worth living?

Kyung-ran Jo made her literary debut in 1996 when her short story The French Optical won the Dong-a Ilbo New Writer's Contest. She is the author of five story collections and three novels. Her novel Tongue was published in the US by Bloomsbury in 2009. She is also the recipient of the Hyundae Munhak Award and the Dong-In Literary Award, among others. Blowfish is her second novel to be translated and published in the English language.

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