The Fetishist

By Katherine Min

Fiction/Fleet/Paperback/304 pages/$25.69/Amazon.sg (amzn.to/3U0u2WE)

Violinist Daniel Karmody has a fetish for Asian women, particularly those who remind him of his first love, the talented Korean cellist Alma Soon Ja Lee. Since their relationship ended 20 years ago, all of his sexual partners have been Asian women, save for his Swedish ex-wife.

Kyoko, the daughter of a married woman he had an affair with 20 years prior, is furious at him for breaking her mother’s heart and driving her to suicide. She believes the only fitting answer is death. Together with her boyfriend, she kidnaps Daniel to make him pay.

Intended as a darkly humorous book tackling the problem of the fetishisation of Asian women, the novel sets up an overly ambitious goal without delivering the necessary critiques and unpacking the real problem, save for a single hard-hitting scene where Kyoko berates Daniel for treating Asian women as ‘‘little dolls’’ to play with.

The book’s unevenness is understandable once one understands the story behind its creation. Korean-American author Katherine Min was working on The Fetishist in 2014 when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She abandoned work on it to focus on personal essays about cancer and death. She died on March 19, 2019, and her daughter, Kayla Min Andrews, became the driving force behind the book’s publication.

Andrews and editor P.J. Mark developed this book from a complete but unrevised manuscript found on Min’s laptop with the help of the late writer’s notes about elements that needed revision or expansion.

A dark foreshadowing of Min’s battle with cancer, the novel also follows Alma as she struggles with multiple sclerosis, a disease that leaves her unable to play the cello or go about her daily life.

Comatose after a suicide attempt, Alma reflects on her experiences of being sexualised and fetishised by various men throughout her life, questioning if anyone ever truly loved her. “Like an heiress with a fortune, then, Alma has learned to be suspicious of all suitors lest they should desire her solely for her luscious yellowness.”

The attempted discussion of the problems of fetishisation through the comatose Alma’s perspective and Kyoko’s fury ultimately falls flat.

Daniel receives an undeserved happy ending. He does little more than vaguely apologise for his previous actions and finally admits in a few words that he has a fetish for Asian women.

The final impression is that men are free to view Asian women as “Oriental girls” ready and willing for sex, and that even those called out on their inappropriate behaviours need not change if they offer a weak apology.

If you like this, read: Not Your Yellow Fantasy by Giboom Park (New Degree Press, 2010, $17.84, Amazon SG, go to amzn.to/3JkIiDH). Examining the conscious and unconscious racial stereotypes of Asian Americans in romantic and sexual relationships, Park addresses the detrimental effects of racial fetishisation.