Non traditional nuclear/ heteronormative families, relationships and people populate this story with disarming naturalness. This was less confusing than the anti-woke mob might presume when reading. Lee himself identifies an a trans man/ queer (choosing “him/ he”) and his protagonist here is a gender neutral “them/they”. Is it Steampunk, SciFi- Fantasy, Alternative History, Parody…? Or none/ all?Īmerican-Korean author Lee is not just transgressive in genre blending, but in the themes and characters of his story here. Lots of norm transgressions, in the best possible way. The genre is new to me, a giant leap really. So I was already well sold on Phoenix Extravagant (2021) by American writer Yoon Ha Lee ( Wikipedia interview) for this month’s book choice, only then to be even further persuaded by the following excellent, quick review by a fellow club member (posted with permission): But, expanding my literary horizons was of the main reasons I started this book club, as was supporting more LGBTQ representation in Korean and Korean-American fiction. A medley of steampunk, fantasy, and magic realism? And featuring multiple animal characters? Frankly, none of those I like at all, let alone when all put together.
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