The Melancholy of Untold History

"A potent and epic blend of the mythic and the personal, The Melancholy of Untold History has the scope and yet intimacy of all great storytelling. A favorite read of the year." — Jeff VanderMeer, the New York Times best-selling author of Annihilation "The Melancholy of Untold History is a delight. Kang's scholarly background has born extraordinary fruit: a debut novel only he could write about the ways we know ourselves and others, which is to say, story. And with, it should be said, an 'extraordinary fruit' plot as well." — Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel "A stupendous feat of erudite imagination and a convincing treatise on the timeless cultural value of storytelling... Kang presents a tri-fold puzzle with intriguing pieces that could stand alone, but bound together make a radiant whole...Remarkable are the promises of new starts, new endings, and new adventures." — Booklist (starred review) "With his quietly magical debut, Kang delivers a book that only a history professor such as himself could write. The novel switches between a profoundly personal story of loss and a grand, mythic epic, poking at the varied ethics and aims of historicism as it goes." — Bustle "This colorful debut novel from historian Kang parallels a tale of modern love with a chronicle of a Scheherazade-like storyteller from the distant past... Kang delivers an impressive reimagining of Asian folk traditions, combined with a deeply touching modern love story... Much to admire." — Publishers Weekly "The author’s tone is both humorous and poignant, the stories-within-the-story are rich with adventure and detail, and the guiding philosophy will resonate with any reader who thinks about the difficulty of reconciling one’s past memories with one’s present reality. This is a unique and moving reading experience that I found enchanting." (Editor's Pick) — Historical Novel Society "Minsoo Kang’s first novel, The Melancholy of Untold History, is an enchanting and ingenious tale about storytellers and the nature of stories, awhirl with gods and myths and the lives of everyday people. Its clear prose and feast of narrative invention make it hard to put down. Highly recommended." — Jeffrey Ford, author of Ahab's Return and Big Dark Hole and Other Stories “Minsoo Kang’s lucid prose and steadfast dedication to climbing the peaks of truth will easily enchant the readers of The Melancholy of Untold History, lulling them into a waking dream of stolen peaches, academic infighting, treacherous cavalry, and dragon farts. Surprise, joy, resignation, fear, laughter, kisses, cats—all play their part in a tale as natural and complex as the course of a river, and as satisfyingly whole as requited love. Given Kang’s Korean literary heritage, his training as a historian, and his globetrotting early life as a diplomat’s son, the inclusion of the bright star of Kang’s fiction in the constellation of important genre works delivers a powerful, timely message: our imagination’s many diverse viewpoints will inevitably be heard.”  — Nisi Shawl, author of Everfair “In these strange, difficult times when fiction writers (and readers!) must be wondering how invented stories can possibly compete with the twists and turns of contemporary reality, Minsoo Kang has written a novel that amply rises to the challenge. The Melancholy of Untold History is a fabulist narrative told by a modern-day historian, a two-thousand-year-old storyteller awaiting execution by a merciless emperor, and a panoply of potty-mouthed deities. Think Game of Thrones crossed with Moana crossed with office hours at an Ivory Tower university. If this sounds like nothing you’ve ever read before, then you’re on the right track because this novel is like nothing you’ve ever read before. It is an exhilarating carnival ride that whirls between myth and love story, intellectual asides (the author is a historian) and the most colorful fart jokes ever written in English. The reader is meant to hold on tight and keep her wits about her. If she can do this, then she will be rewarded with golden dumplings from the diaper of a Sky Baby. And also a really good story.”  — Yoojin Grace Wuertz, author of Everything Belongs to Us "The Melancholy of Untold History mixes genres, traverses space and time, and ultimately limns the human soul as it asks us to consider what is a story, and does story make us human? An epic feat of storytelling in itself, this book is a triumph."  — Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of The Evening Hero "The Melancholy of Untold History reveals the mortal stakes of the stories we tell about who we are as a people: how our notions of history profoundly shape who we become. It performs this high-wire act by interspersing narratives of “the storyteller” and “the historian,” alternately luring us in with myths and challenging us with truths. Lofty in its ambition yet grounded in its clear-sightedness, Kang’s debut novel is deft, sly, and compulsively readable." — Phong Nguyen, author of Bronze Drum “Bold, witty, and provocative, The Melancholy of Untold History is a prismatic imaginative feat, taking us on a journey through three thousand years of love and deceit, victory and revenge. I laughed out loud when I wasn’t crying, carried by Minsoo Kang’s sharp and inventive prose that asks: What’s the cost of silence?” — Jimin Han, author of The Apology