An energetic, joyful, and moving novel that depicts both the glittering night-time world of Seoul, and the bleary-eyed morning after. Translated by Anton Hur.

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 suppress their anxieties about their love lives, families and money with rounds of soju and freezer-chilled Marlboro Reds.

In time, even Jaehee settles down, leaving Young alone to care for his ailing mother and 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.

 

Longlisted
The 2022 International Booker Prize
Published by
Tilted Axis Press
Publication date
Sang Young Park

Sang Young Park

About the Author

Sang Young Park was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022. He born in 1988 and studied French at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea.
More about Sang Young Park
Anton Hur

Anton Hur

About the Translator

Anton Hur was born in Sweden in 1981 and raised in Hong Kong, Ethiopia and Thailand - but mostly in Korea, where he has lived for 30 years.
More about Anton Hur

Love in the Big City is disarmingly confessional but never sentimental, even while sifting through the desolation of human existence.

— The 2022 International Booker Prize judges

Other nominated books by Anton Hur

Cursed Bunny