One Break

Maxi Kim's first novel was chosen by Book Works' new Semina series
because of its refusal to recognize the differences between fiction and
non-fiction, high-brow and low-brow, and art and life. One Break,
A Thousand Blows! appears to be a novel about Japan, but the
protagonist is a metaphor, aiming to negate Japan by writing falsely
about it, and using it as a screen for the author's innermost hopes
and desires. The author cannibalizes every book he references, as he
subjects his characters to the occult use of books for divination.
Kim, the grandson of illiterate Korean peasant farmers, is a recent
graduate of the CalArts MFA Writing Program.