Description

The award-winning and New York Times bestselling novel: a dark and witty story of the rise of a young orphan in the surreal and tyrannical regime of North Korea.

‘You know you are in the hands of someone who can tell a story. Fantastic’ ZADIE SMITH

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

——

Young Pak Jun Do is convinced he is special. He knows he must be the unique son of the master of the orphanage, and definitely not some kid dumped by his parents. Surely it was obvious from the way his father singled him out for regular beating?

He finds his calling when he is picked as a spy and kidnapper for his nation, the glorious Democratic Republic of North Korea.

He knows he must find his true love, Sun Moon, the greatest opera star who ever lived, before it’s too late.

He knows he’s not like the other prisoners in the camp.

He’s going to get out soon.

Isn’t he?

This hilarious, dark literary epic of a young boy’s rise in North Korea from orphan to high-ranking officer won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the National Book Award.
Adam Johnson is working on a new work of fiction.

‘An addictive novel of daring ingenuity’ DAVID MITCHELL
‘Excavates the very meaning of life’ NEW YORK TIMES

Publisher Review

"An addictive novel of daring ingenuity; a study of sacrifice and freedom in a citizen-eating dynasty; and a timely reminder that anonymous victims of oppression are also human beings who love. A brave and impressive book" -- David Mitchell, author of THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET "A flamboyantly grim epic of totalitarianism... this larger-than-life, two-fisted picaresque manages to be a page-turner... an ambitious book" * The Sunday Times * "One of those books where you know you've found yourself in the hands of someone who can really tell a story, and is yet not naive about the artificiality of stories. The conceit is fantastic: a narration partly told through the loud speakers of the North Korean regime." -- Zadie Smith "Fast-paced and intriguing.. this complex, multi-voiced narrative will remind some readers of David Mitchell's similarly inventive tale, Cloud Atlas... It is magnificent" * Financial Times * "What we have here are the ingredients of an across-the-board smash hit: sympathetic characters, an exotic, unknowable setting and a plot that will carry you along more convincingly than any of the fictions used by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." -- David Annand * Sunday Telegraph *