2022 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize
The breathtaking debut of an important new voice—centered on a constellation of Korean American families
“To encounter these achingly truthful, beautiful stories of newcomer Americans is like gazing up at the starry vault of a perfect night sky; it’s immediately dazzling and impressive, and yet the closer and deeper you look, the more you appreciate the sheer countless brilliance.”—Chang-rae Lee, author of My Year Abroad
A long-married couple is forced to confront their friend's painful past when a church revival comes to a nearby town ... A woman in an arranged marriage struggles to connect with the son she hid from her husband for years ... A well-meaning sister unwittingly reunites an abuser with his victims.
Through an indelible array of lives, Yoon Choi explores where first and second generations either clash or find common ground, where meaning falls in the cracks between languages, where relationships bend under the weight of tenderness and disappointment, where displacement turns to heartbreak.
Skinship is suffused with a profound understanding of humanity and offers a searing look at who the people we love truly are.
Genre: Literary Fiction
“To encounter these achingly truthful, beautiful stories of newcomer Americans is like gazing up at the starry vault of a perfect night sky; it’s immediately dazzling and impressive, and yet the closer and deeper you look, the more you appreciate the sheer countless brilliance.”—Chang-rae Lee, author of My Year Abroad
A long-married couple is forced to confront their friend's painful past when a church revival comes to a nearby town ... A woman in an arranged marriage struggles to connect with the son she hid from her husband for years ... A well-meaning sister unwittingly reunites an abuser with his victims.
Through an indelible array of lives, Yoon Choi explores where first and second generations either clash or find common ground, where meaning falls in the cracks between languages, where relationships bend under the weight of tenderness and disappointment, where displacement turns to heartbreak.
Skinship is suffused with a profound understanding of humanity and offers a searing look at who the people we love truly are.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"These are such fine and startlingly insightful stories. Ms. Choi performs the beautiful oldest task of writing: that of giving us people we believe in, and who earn our interest, and she does this without the slightest hint of the facile, or the flashy. Each story feels true. The troubles of these people remind us of our own, even as they also shine in that wonderful otherness which we rightly associate with, say it, literature." - Richard Bausch
"A debut story collection that introduces us to a master of the form. Skinship, and the intricate, lovingly rendered characters in it, will stay with me forever. Yoon Choi has a fan for life." - Nathan Englander
"Lovely stories, such a good writer, everything so delicately made but robust and unsentimental too." - Tessa Hadley
"Think Alice Munro. Think Tobias Wolff. Think Lucia Berlin. Yoon Choi is a writer whose talents must be measured on the Richter Scale. The eight rich stories in this debut collection Skinship send tremors through our sensibilities, forcing us to reimagine the bonds that secure families, marriages, and generations. The rolling cadence of Choi's prose--at turns lovely, wise, and funny--releases her characters' voices to speak the truth of lives they'd likely never have otherwise been able to share. And what lives they are. Skinship charts the underlying power and deep humanity of those remanded to be bodega owners' wives, arranged brides, hospice workers, and caretakers, all with inner realms that cascade forth under Choi's careful gaze." - Adam Johnson
"To encounter these achingly truthful, beautiful stories of newcomer Americans is like gazing up at the starry vault of a perfect night sky; it's immediately dazzling and impressive, and yet the closer and deeper you look, the more you appreciate the sheer countless brilliance." - Chang-Rae Lee
"Yoon Choi's beautiful debut story collection bring[s] a rich and engaging new voice to contemporary American letters. With refreshing amplitude, patience, and (dare I say) wisdom, Choi's stories explore the complexities of her characters' diverse experiences . . . In each story, Choi evokes a world entire . . . [One character's] simple observation is the opposite of bombast: at once ordinary and profound, it ripples outward to evoke the biggest questions of identity and meaning . . . Choi manages to convey much that is unspoken but present." - Claire Messud
"So poised, dazzling, and powerful is Skinship, it comes as a shock to realize it is not the work of a writer far advanced in age and fame, but the first appearance of a gorgeous new voice. Choi's vision is unsparing, her emotional range prodigious, her curiosity about her characters' lives tenderly infinite. Lovers of the short story, take note: in this volume you will meet the newest great story writer." - Elizabeth Tallent
"Yoon Choi writes with astounding precision and grace. These stories are filled with unflinching moments, so raw yet so true to life. The American experience is encapsulated here and imbued with a rare freshness. I was enthralled not only by the families, parents, and children of Choi's masterful creation but also by the courage and strength I found on the page." - Weike Wang
"A debut story collection that introduces us to a master of the form. Skinship, and the intricate, lovingly rendered characters in it, will stay with me forever. Yoon Choi has a fan for life." - Nathan Englander
"Lovely stories, such a good writer, everything so delicately made but robust and unsentimental too." - Tessa Hadley
"Think Alice Munro. Think Tobias Wolff. Think Lucia Berlin. Yoon Choi is a writer whose talents must be measured on the Richter Scale. The eight rich stories in this debut collection Skinship send tremors through our sensibilities, forcing us to reimagine the bonds that secure families, marriages, and generations. The rolling cadence of Choi's prose--at turns lovely, wise, and funny--releases her characters' voices to speak the truth of lives they'd likely never have otherwise been able to share. And what lives they are. Skinship charts the underlying power and deep humanity of those remanded to be bodega owners' wives, arranged brides, hospice workers, and caretakers, all with inner realms that cascade forth under Choi's careful gaze." - Adam Johnson
"To encounter these achingly truthful, beautiful stories of newcomer Americans is like gazing up at the starry vault of a perfect night sky; it's immediately dazzling and impressive, and yet the closer and deeper you look, the more you appreciate the sheer countless brilliance." - Chang-Rae Lee
"Yoon Choi's beautiful debut story collection bring[s] a rich and engaging new voice to contemporary American letters. With refreshing amplitude, patience, and (dare I say) wisdom, Choi's stories explore the complexities of her characters' diverse experiences . . . In each story, Choi evokes a world entire . . . [One character's] simple observation is the opposite of bombast: at once ordinary and profound, it ripples outward to evoke the biggest questions of identity and meaning . . . Choi manages to convey much that is unspoken but present." - Claire Messud
"So poised, dazzling, and powerful is Skinship, it comes as a shock to realize it is not the work of a writer far advanced in age and fame, but the first appearance of a gorgeous new voice. Choi's vision is unsparing, her emotional range prodigious, her curiosity about her characters' lives tenderly infinite. Lovers of the short story, take note: in this volume you will meet the newest great story writer." - Elizabeth Tallent
"Yoon Choi writes with astounding precision and grace. These stories are filled with unflinching moments, so raw yet so true to life. The American experience is encapsulated here and imbued with a rare freshness. I was enthralled not only by the families, parents, and children of Choi's masterful creation but also by the courage and strength I found on the page." - Weike Wang
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