©2023 Fable Group Inc.
3.5 

Love in the Big City

By Sang Young Park and Sang Young Park and Anton Hur and Anton Hur
Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park and Sang Young Park and Anton Hur and Anton Hur digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A funny, transporting, surprising, and poignant novel that was one of the highest-selling debuts of recent years in Korea, Love in the Big City tells the story of a young gay man searching for happiness in the lonely city of Seoul

Love in the Big City is the English-language debut of Sang Young Park, one of Korea’s most exciting young writers. A runaway bestseller, the novel hit the top five lists of all the major bookstores, went into twenty-six printings, and was praised for its unique literary voice and perspective. It is now poised to capture a worldwide readership.

Young is a cynical yet fun-loving Korean student who pinballs from home to class to the beds of recent Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their anxieties about their love lives, families, and money with rounds of soju and ice-cold Marlboro Reds that they keep in their freezer. Yet over time, even Jaehee leaves Young to settle down, leaving him alone to care for his ailing mother and to find companionship in his relationships with a series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness, and another who might end up being the great love of his life.

A brilliantly written novel that takes us into the glittering nighttime of Seoul and the bleary-eyed morning after with both humor and emotion, Love in the Big City is a wry portrait of millennial loneliness as well as the abundant joys of queer life. 

Download the free Fable app

app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities
app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

58 Reviews

3.5
“3.5”
“I was promised that this book was Lorde’s Melodrama turned into fiction. Apparently, it was exactly true but I could still see the similarities. We follow the life of Young, a queer writer living in Seoul. It was interesting to read his life as a college student and mature over the pages as he explores the complexities of loneliness and heartbreak, two things that are completely different from a queer perspective. Although the writing style wasn’t completely new, the book’s charm relies on its atmospheric setting and raw depictions of emotion from its witty and flawed protagonist.”
“4.5/5 Stars After finishing this book the first thought that came into my mind was “wow that was so… human” and it might not make sense but that is the best way to describe this book. This is a Korean translated fiction about a man living in Korean who happens to be gay and it follows his life as he is periodically going through a lot of different things and experiencing a lot in his life. From friendship breakups to romantic breakups to toxic parents and just being a mess in your 20s. This is also unlike any other translated fiction I have ever read so far because it felt more like a collection of stories that happen to the same person who is our main character named Young. This book definitely does not beat around the bush about a lot tough subjects and themes so please look up trigger warnings before reading. Sang Young Park is an author I will most definitely be obsessing over from now on. Also Anton Hur, the translator, did an amazing job.”

About Sang Young Park

SANG YOUNG PARK was born in 1988 and studied French literature at Sungkyunkwan University. He worked as a magazine editor, copywriter, and consultant before debuting as a novelist. The title story of his bestselling short story collection, The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta, was one of Words Without Borders's most read pieces ever. He lives in Seoul. 

ANTON HUR was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He is the winner of a PEN Translates grant and a PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant, among many others, and his translations include Kyung-Sook Shin’s The Court Dancer and Kang Kyeong-ae’s The Underground Village.

Sang Young Park

Start a Book Club

Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!

FAQ

Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?

Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?

How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?

Do you sell physical books too?

Are book clubs free to join on Fable?

How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?

Error Icon
Save to a list
0
/
30
0
/
100
Private List
Private lists are not visible to other Fable users on your public profile.
Notification Icon