The Fetishist (Min novel)

The Fetishist is a novel by Katherine Min, published in 2024. The introduction was written by Cathy Park Hong, a poet.

It is Min's second, and final, novel.

Background
Min was a Korean American.

The author used Lolita as inspiration.

The novelist wrote the novel until 2014, when a diagnosis of breast cancer caused her to decide to stop creating fiction. In 2019, the author died. The author did not leave a document stating what should be done with the writing.

Kayla Min Andrews, the author's daughter, obtained a computer that had a copy of the work, and this was used to have the book published. Lauren LeBlanc of the Los Angeles Times wrote "For an ostensibly unfinished manuscript, it was remarkably polished." This version had author's notes. The file with the copy had been worked on last before Min learned she had cancer.

Plot
The main characters are Alma Soon Ja Lee, a Korean American musician; Daniel Karmody, an Irish American musician; and Kyoko Tokugawa, a Japanese American woman.

Alma, from California, has multiple sclerosis, which is certain to kill her. Alma previously played the cello. Alma and Daniel were in a relationship, but this relationship failed, because Daniel cheated on her with Emi Tokugawa, Kyoko's mother. Daniel then went on to have affairs with other Asian American women. The novel describes Daniel as having a sexual fetish for Asian American women, among them Emi Tokugawa, who had committed suicide due to Daniel giving her rejection. Daniel, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, played the string quartet and lead a musical group called "Thanatos." 23-year-old Kyoko, a resident of Baltmore, draws comics in a manga style, and does singing work for a band with a punk rock theme.

Kyoko has a grudge against Daniel and wishes to kill him. Kyoko kidnaps Daniel, and places him in the basement of her residence. Ultimately Daniel realizes that he had done wrong actions in the past and decides to atone for them.

Reception
People ranked the novel as one of the "Best Books To Read in January 2024", 14/21. It cited Marion Winik of the Seattle Times, who described the novel as "a delightful, fantastic novel".

Sophia Nguyen of the Washington Post described the work as "ahead of its time". Lauren Leblanc of the Los Angeles Times also described the book as such.

Publishers Weekly stated that "the technicolor, Tarantino-esque crime plot can be great fun." The PW review stated that The Fetishist "initially sets out to restore a sense of humanity to" Daniel's victims, and that how Daniel atones and how the novel focuses on that "is a curious and somewhat frustrating" development.