NUCLEAR FAMILY

“Tragic, funny, and strikingly ingenious, Han's prodigious debut is a spectacular achievement. Seamlessly dovetailed into his sublime multigenerational saga are pivotal history lessons, anti-colonial denunciations, political slaps. For Korean speakers, Han's brilliant linguistic acrobatics will prove particularly enlightening (Jeong is a homophone for jeong, something akin to empathic connection) and shrewdly entertaining.” (starred review)

“Recent National Book Award 5 Under 35 honoree Joseph Han is poised to break out big with his debut novel, Nuclear Family. Juggling multiple perspectives of a Korean American family with deftness and delicacy, it's a book as side-splitting as it is heart-rending.”

“Nuclear Family is a world unto itself: Joseph Han's novel is heartfelt and propulsive, immersing readers in a narrative whose questions of family, borders, queerness, and forgiveness constantly surprises and astounds. Han's prose is remarkable—both deadpan and compassionate—juggling the stories that we're told with the ones we seek to tell ourselves. Nuclear Family is a singular work, and Han's writing is truly special.” —Bryan Washington, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot “A haunting, tender, potent, and frequently very funny testament to the pull of history and the tenacity of ghosts. Spellbinding and original, Nuclear Family is a novel to hold close.” —R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries “Nuclear Family manages to capture Hawai?i, North and South Korea, Guy Fieri and family-run delicatessens, teenage gloom, the weight of our family and ancestors, and settle them all onto an appetizing plate. A fresh, inventive, and at times, hilarious novel.” —Kaui Hart Hemmings, author of The Descendants “Joseph Han's Nuclear Family is a moving exploration of the losses we inherit, the continual violence of borders, and the embodiedness of history. He shows us that what is so powerful and resurrective about mythmaking is not that it provides an escape from our world but that it allows us to see the deeper truths of it, to give agency to the buried, and to shape possibility across space and time and generations. Han writes with incredible empathy for the living and the dead, subverting borders of all kinds to illuminate intergenerational dynamics, labor, and the living marrow of memory.” —K-Ming Chang, author of Bestiary, long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize “The Korean Demilitarized Zone is one of the most militarized borders in the world. A division created by US and Soviet forces after World War II, following the 35-year-long Japanese occupation of Korea. It is harder to weigh a complicated history of war that permanently exiles its victims. Joseph Han's Nuclear Family follows the perpetual victims of war who must continue to respond and learn to live through and within such a world—nevertheless.” —E. J. Koh, author of The Magical Language of Others and A Lesser Love “Nuclear Family is a rollicking, immersive family saga unlike any you've read before, a novel that explores the intergenerational legacy of trauma—and what it costs us to both survive and remember—while also delivering more than its share of laughs. Deft, candid, and perpetually surprising, Joseph Han's debut is one not to miss.” —Nicole Chung, author of All You Can Ever Know

“Nuclear Family is an entrancing, boldly satisfying debut from Joseph Han. It feels both massive, grand on a global scale, and also small and intimate: a deeply personal story of a family trying to keep their small business open when their son suddenly causes the eyes of the world to turn on them. _ is a knockout. I was hooked from the first awe-filled chapter.” Read more...

“A beautiful, original book The story unfolds in a chorus of voices, both dead and alive. It's a gorgeous meditation on loss and memory, a painful and haunting novel about the legacies of war and the violence of separation.”

“Han makes a smashing debut with this stunning take on identity and migration told through the multiple perspectives of a Korean American family. Each short chapter takes readers deep into the heart of each character's dilemmas, and while it's heartbreaking, it's also sharply hilarious, as with a description of television host Guy Fieri, whose airbrushed imprimatur radiates from behind the Chos' counter: ‘he who has risen from flame decals, born by accident when his Camaro crashed into the Food Network.' This is a master class from a brilliant new voice.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An immigrant family is haunted by the past Han's surreal fantasy contains a serious critique: of the marginalization of Korean immigrants; of the plight of families separated by a politically contrived border; of shattered lives, pain, and guilt. A raucous and adroit debut.” —Kirkus Reviews “A top summer debut . . . Evocative.” —Library Journal

Chosen by the National Book Foundation as one of its "5 Under 35"

“[Han's] prose is rhythmic and hypnotic; it captivates from the very first page and gracefully conveys the loss and the longing the family experiences. Coupled with this are frequent, butter-smooth shifts in perspective, allowing us to occupy a multitude of hearts and minds with such intimacy as to feel almost intrusive Han never ceases to surprise. Once you get used to his prose, he breaks form, redacting paragraphs, building towers out of words only to topple them pages later. And his comedic timing is always punctual, full of cackle-inducing humor when we need it most.”