Table for One: A Story by Yun Ko Eun

by Yun Ko-eun, Lizzie Buehler (Translator), Bruce Fulton (Introduction)

In contemporary South Korea, the nuclear family has given way to individual urban living. Yun Ko Eun sharply captures the dissonance of solitary life in a culture that prizes community and family. In an effort to navigate this 21st century conundrum, her narrator takes rigorous, highly structured classes to learn to eat alone in public. A sly, deeply sympathetic look at our increasingly isolated social world, "Table for One" transcends geographical boundaries to explore loneliness, community, and social awkwardness with grace and a wicked sense of humor.
Working Titles January 2018, Volume 3, No. 1

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism, Anthologies, 21st Century

39 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2018

About the author

Yun Ko Eun is her pen name and her real name is Ko Eun-ju. She was born in 1980 in Seoul, South Korea. She studied creative writing at Dongguk University. She made her literary debut in 2004 when she won the 2nd Daesan Collegiate Literary Prize. In 2008, she won the 13th Hankyoreh Literary Award for her novel Mujungryeok jeunghugun (무중력증후군 The Zero G Syndrome). She has published three short story collections: Irinyong siktak (1인용 식탁 Table for One), Aloha (알로하 Aloha), and Neulgeun chawa hichihaikeo (늙은 차와 히치하이커 The Old Car and Hitchhiker)—and the novel Bamui yeohaengjadeul (밤의 여행자들 Travelers of the Night).

Reviews

[emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

short stories about "slightly off-kilter worlds tucked away in the corners of everyday life"??? gimme

mini reviews for each story because i'm pretending i have my life together:

TABLE FOR ONE
sometimes i think that the title story being the very first story in the collection is not a good sign.
this is a fun one about people who take lessons on how to eat alone, and it made me want korean bbq very badly.
rating: 3.5


SWEET ESCAPE
this story, which is about people eating popsicles and becoming obsessed with preventing bedbugs, includes a scene in which everyone in an apartment building smells cilantro — which apparently smells like bedbugs? — and is disgusted.

as a cilantro fan, i can't abide this insect-based propaganda. that's not the reason this story isn't great, but it didn't help.
rating: 2.5


INVADER GRAPHIC
i kinda wish i was a kleptomaniac. i love free stuff so i wish i didn't have my rule abiding self holding me back. plus i always made my sims have that trait since i thought it was fun to have them bring little presents back from work.

anyway. this is a story about a woman who works from a department store bathroom every day.
rating: 3.5


HYEONMONG PARK'S HOUSE OF DREAMS
it turns out if dreams were for sale it would mostly just be a capitalist contest to corner the industry.

which i guess is not that surprising. but it's also not all that fun to read about.
rating: 3


ROADKILL
there should be another word for "kafkaesque" meaning trying really hard to be.
rating: 3


TIME CAPSULE 1994
i'm going to be real with you: i don't know what this one means.
rating: 3


ICELAND
this is a story about the category of "iceland person," which is a person who is obsessed with the concept of visiting and/or living in iceland.

we all know at least one.
rating: 3


PIERCING
they say if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. but this is MY goodreads account, so i get to say this was disgusting and stupid and i hated it so much.
rating: 1


DON'T CRY, HONGDO
this one was just about a kid who has to eat organic and has a crush on her teacher. maybe i'm just sensitive because being forced to eat organic was my trial in youth (i still remember the day they took the slushy machine out of the cafeteria...), but this one didn't quite click.
rating: 2.5


OVERALL
i honestly love when story collections are united by a theme, and it's something that if i were evil dictator of the world i would make a requirement. unfortunately these felt a bit elementary, and a little off, like they needed another polish before being sent out into the world.
rating: 2.5

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this short story takes place in South Korea, the change from agrarian to industrialized society happens worldwide. No longer do most families live in multi-generational homes. Nuclear families move away. One person households continue to rise. How does one eat alone? Physical well being and eating tasty food has become a social issue for some solitary diners. When entering a restaurant, the following queries: How many are in your party? Can I order just one serving? Why are people staring, pitying me?

Inyoung enrolls in a course to learn how to eat alone. The class meets three times weekly. The five step program includes restaurant time as well as rigorous exams, success rate 15%. More than half of the remaining 85% re-enroll! What does she learn? "Let's think of steak and wine as musical notes...We eat in two-four time. The downbeat is the main course, so steak. The upbeat is a sidepiece, so wine...On the downbeat, cut off a mouthful of steak...on the upbeat eat something else, and now you're eating with a rhythm." How will Inyoung fare with this course on solitary dining?

An interesting take on changing lifestyles!

[Alwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of nine stories from 2010 by award-winning Korean author Yun Ko-eun. In South Korea Yun Ko-eun’s regarded as a writer with a singular vision, keenly observational, her fiction’s suffused with understated humour, deftly criss-crossing boundaries between the real and the absurd. She’s particularly invested in exploring the plight of people living in capitalist societies: afraid they’re mere cogs in its machinery, struggling to find some way to stand out and assert their individuality.

In the evocative title piece Oh Inyeong’s ambivalent about her relationship with her colleagues, uncertain why they leave her out of their group meals yet oddly relieved to be excluded. She takes a lunchtime course at a local “hagwon” – the private education facilities found throughout South Korea – that focuses on the art of eating alone, carefully progressing through each level from small cafés to the heights of a family barbecue restaurant. Yun Ko-eun’s matter-of-fact delivery enhances the eccentricity of her plot and her character Oh Inyeong’s experiences. When it first appeared this operated as a biting commentary on a group-centred culture in which solo eating was distinctly aberrational. In more recent years, particularly post-Covid, its meaning has gradually shifted, as the “honjok” lifestyle – with increasing numbers living alone – and its embrace of activities for one has gained ground. So that Oh Inyeong seems far less eccentric for craving a starring role in her own life.

There’s something of a Shirley Jackson sensibility to entries like “Sweet Escape” in which a man on the brink of an overseas holiday finds himself obsessed with avoiding bedbugs. Only to find on returning to Korea that bedbugs have crossed its borders, rapidly advancing on his own apartment building, endangering not only health but property values! It’s a chilling, original take on paranoia, authoritarianism and social conformity. The highly-referential “Invader Graphic” is an unusual perspective on becoming a writer; while “Hyeonmong Park’s Hall of Dreams” is a haunting reflection on capitalism and consumerism demonstrated via a man who kick-starts an industry based on the literal selling of dreams. Similar themes emerge in “Roadkill” an oblique examination of social isolation and commodification, and in the speculative “Time Capsule” with its emphasis on memory versus truth.

One of the stand-outs is “Piercing” which moves into body horror territory in ways that reminded me of writers like Sayaka Murata and Bora Chung. “Iceland” is an inventive look at how abstract concepts – rather like religion – operate to distract people from disappointing, everyday realities; and “Don’t Cry, Hongdo” is an intriguing look at mothers and daughters, cultural norms and South Korea’s highly competitive atmosphere. Inevitably some pieces were less successful than others but overall, I found these accomplished, arresting and memorable. Translated by Lizzie Buehler.

Thanks to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for an ARC

Rating: 3.5

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Table for One: Stories (2024) is Lizzie Buehler's translation of the 2008 debut collection 1인용 식탁 by 윤고은 (Yun Ko-eun) originally published when the author was in her late 20s.

It is published by Columbia University Press in their Weatherhead Books on Asia series which has typically featured posthomous collections of work by 20th century Korean authors, such as the forthcoming Patterns of the Heart and Other Stories.

NB the title story itself has previously appeared in translation by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton - the Goodreads entry here - Table for One: Stories - is just for that story as are reviews written pre late 2023, but Buehler's new translation is for the whole collection.

This is the second book in English from the author, after The Disaster Tourist, Buehler's 2020 translation of the 2013 original 밤의 여행자들 (Night Travellers).

This is collection of cleverly constructed, often quirky, stories, the ideas rooted in Korean urban culture but with many universal messages, and with a particular focus on characters driven to obsession by isolation and disconnection.

There are some neat, if low-key, links between some of the stories (e.g. the bedbugs from one popping up in a very different context in another, the use of beats as a way to explain how things should work). Against that the length of each means that if a story doesn't work for the reader it can outstay its welcome, and the endings were often a little too pleasantly wrapped up for what's are otherwise very offbeat stories, with Piercing (the collection's highlight) a very notable exception.

Overall - 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

The stories here (with original title) - page count - and my rating:

Table for One (1인용 식탁) - 27pp - 4*
Sweet Escape (달콤한 휴가) - 28pp - 4.5*
Invader Graphic (인베이더 그래픽) - 28pp - 3.5*
Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams (박현몽 꿈 철학관) - 40pp - 2.5*
Roadkill (로드킬) - 28pp - 2*
Time Capsule 1994 (타임캡슐 1994) - 20pp - 3*
Iceland (아이슬란드) - 22pp - 3.5*
Piercing (피어싱) - 21pp - 4.5*
Don't Cry, Hongdo (홍도야 울지 마라) - 57pp - 4*

The narrator of Table for One is an office worker who finds she isn't typically invited to join her colleagues for lunch hour and so eats alone. She ends up attending a course to learn the skill of asking for a Table for One without social embarrassment, the ultimate level to be able to order a for one in a 고기구이 (BBQ) restaurant when minimum portion sizes of meat are for at least 2 people:

Not weekends but weekdays, not lunchtime or dinnertime but the hours in between—target those times. Target corner tables rather than those in the middle. Seats at the bar are also good. Hang your coat or bag on the chair facing you and take advantage of tools like a book, earphones, a cell phone, or a newspaper. Become a regular customer and befriend the owner or waiters. Befriending the cook isn’t a bad idea, either. When going to a nice restaurant, call ahead and reserve a table for one. If you make a reservation, no one will pay attention to you. If possi ble, avoid going out on couples’ days like Valentine’s Day, White Day, or Christmas Eve.

Step One—coffee shop, bakery, fast-food joint, snack bar,neighborhood Chinese restaurant, food court, cafeteria
Step Two—Italian restaurant, large Chinese restaurant, traditional Korean restaurant, family restaurant
Step Three—wedding, first-birthday party
Step Four—barbecue restaurant, sushi restaurant

The course comes with an exam at the end, where students have to eat alone in ten establishments while watched by examiners (who might be disguised a fellow customer or the waiter) which she fails. But she realises that the companionship of others in the same situation was what she really valued and re-enrols:

Only after failing the exam did I understand why a mere 15 percent of students got a diploma in one go. The thing that 85 percent of people were afraid of wasn’t the test. It was the real life that came after the test. After completing the course, there was no more reason to attend class, and with that, be part of a group. The dispersion of a crowd united by common interests and goals, people whom they’d sat with at every lunch hour, and just a diploma to show for it; the absence of a reason to come to this place; having to really go out into the world and face eating alone— these were all objects of terror. To them— no, to us— what was necessary was not the diploma but the time to delay reality.

The thing I’d wanted to learn was how to eat alone naturally, but instead I'd gotten from the course the comfort that I wasn't the only person eating alone.

시험에 떨어지고 나서야 나는 왜 이 수료층을 한번에 받는 사랑들이 15퍼센트에 그치는지 알 것 같았다． 85퍼센 트의 사람들이 두러워한 것은 시헝이 아니었다． 시헝 이후에 찾아올 진짜 현실이었다． 수료를 하고 나면 더 이상 학원에 찾아올 필요가 없고， 그 말은 곧 ’우리 ’라고 부를 만한 소속이 없어지는 것 아닌가． 검심시간마다 흴，『o『와 공 통의 관심사와 목표 아래 앉아 있을 무리가 흩어진다는 것， 수료증 하나로 더 이상 이곳에 찾아올 이유가 없어친다 는 것‘ 그래서 이제는 겅말 세상으르 나가 혼자만의 식사와 마주쳐야 한다는 것‘ 바로 그것이 공프의 대상이 었다， 그들에게， 아니 우리에게 필요한 것은 수료층이 아니라 현실을 유예할 수 있는 시간이었던 것이다．

내가 배우고자 했던 것은 혼자 자유롭게 먹는 방법이었으나， 정각 내가 얻은 것은 수강 기간 동안 내가 혼자 먹는 유일한 사랑이 아니라는 위안이었다．

Sweet Escape (달콤한 휴가), set in 2007, is a coincidentally timely story given the hysteria in late 2024 over bedbugs in Paris which then spread (the hysteria as much as the bugs) to Korea.

The protagonist, having lost his job, plans a trip to Europe with his wife with the redundancy money, but with time on his hands over-plans it, becoming part of an online group of people over-planning similar trips. In particular, he becomes obsessed with the threat of bed-bugs:

One day before the trip, he posted in his club’s online forum. Like many of the members, his comments were imbued with the excitement and fear of someone leaving the next day for an unknown world. Despite the fact that he might have to face pickpockets, contagious diseases, terrorist threats, and bedbugs, he was still eager to embark, he wrote. He also mentioned that he’d invested one hundred thousand won toward bedbug prevention. The aroma oils, salves, and medicines he’d bought really had cost almost that much. He didn’t forget to add that this was all thanks to what he’d learned from the other club members.

And when he returns to Korea, just as in real-life in 2023, the bugs and the hysteria has spread to Seoul, his neighbourhood residents association re-naming themselves the WWB (Word Without Bedbugs).

Invader Graphic (인베이더 그래픽) is narrated by a woman whose main aim in life is to subsist entirely on free, if purloined, products (toilet rolls, electricity, WiFi, sugar from the coffee shop, free samples from the food section etc) provided by a large department store where she spends every day, typically camped out, writing, in the luxurious bathrooms (she usually goes to the menswear floor as the women's toilets there are the least busy):

Soon after I’ve dodged two bathroom checks, the morning is over, and both my mind and my belly have grown empty. It’s time to go to the underground food court, where the sample cor ner is open to anyone. Freshly fried pork cutlets, vegetable pan cakes grilled golden brown, fat sausages—I grab a skewer of each and chomp on the bite-size morsels. Some days, I come across udon noodles in paper cups, or fruit to cleanse my palette.

She is an unpublished novelist (who, as usual with Korean literature, has won a short story competition in a newspaper) hence the need to be able to support her work at close to zero cost. The novel she is writing is about a man who becomes obsessed with the work of the real-life anonymous French street artist Invader, famous for his graffiti based on console games, particularly Space Invaders:



(example from 2004 in Manchester)

But as the department stores generally track down on freeloaders - e.g. asking for a receipt before you can use the bathroom facilities - she realises she is the real space invader. Here I found the set-up of the freeloader more successful that the parallel novel-in-progress story.

Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams (박현몽 꿈 철학관) is narrated by the assistant of the titular character, a serial, and not entirely successful, entrepreneur who has now moved into the business of selling dreams, even changing is name from Hyeonbong (현봉) to Hyeonmong (몽 meaning dream):

Hyeonmong Park was the type of person who was always selling something. Over the years, he had hawked children’s books, water dispensers, and roasted chestnuts. Leftovers that he hadn’t sold took up more space in his house than people did. His sales record wasn’t good. He was drowsy, thin, and had little drive. Finally, when he could no longer sell physical objects, he’d begun to peddle dreams. Dreams were his most successful sales item to date. They didn’t take up space, they didn’t require any capital, they didn’t grow dusty, and each one brought in a good amount of money. They were the things he sold best.

His model is to dream dreams to order on behalf of his clients which he then retells to them in detail, but as his business expands rather more professional competitors move in and then one day he finds he can't dream anymore and reverts to inventing dreams instead.

This was one of the less successful stories in the compilation for me, although it did have a nice link to Sweet Escape (달콤한 휴가) when the first sign of the problems to come is a proliferation of commas in his write-up of the dreams:

They were an ominous mark and an evil code. Hyeonmong Park tried to erase the commas that now appeared in each of his dreams, but they bred without paying him any mind. “They’re just like bedbugs!” he shouted. “Bedbugs!”.

Roadkill (로드킬) is a Kafkesque tale of a vending-machine operator who finds himself stuck in an odd motel where one of his machines is based (guests never leave the room but anything they could want comes round to the door of their room on a conveyor belt of various vending machines) in a massive snowstorm - and increasingly finds he can never leave and that (in an uncanny twist to what is otherwise a relatively conventional collection) that he is turning into an animal.

Time Capsule 1994 (타임캡슐 1994) is based on the real-life (from Wikipedia) Seoul Millennium Time Capsule in Namsangol Park (남산골공원) buried in 1994 to celebrate Seoul's 600th anniversary as the capital of Korea with 600 items chosen to represent the city. The time capsule is set to be opened on November 29, 2394, on the city's 1000th anniversary, but in the story has to be opened only 14 years later as it has (quite how this was discovered is not explained) started to corrode. The narrator is one of those charged with replacing the objects found therein with reserve items:

They discuss what to do with items that are now associated with scandal, like CDs containing songs exposed as works of plagiarism. Some have even curated six hundred entirely new pieces to go in the time capsule. “If what we believed to be the truth in 1994 wasn’t actually the truth, don’t we have to get rid of it?” That’s what they’ve said. Others have asked what we will do if the truth of 2008 turns out to be a lie, and the truth we knew in 1994 was the real truth.

But the story centres on a mysterious and blank CD found in the capsule that shouldn't have been there.

Iceland (아이슬란드), which was the author's debut story, has the protagonist, dissatisifed with his life and particularly his job, becoming increasingly obsessed with Iceland after he undertakes a compatibility quiz and finds he is only 2% compatible with Korea but scores over 40%, much his highest score, for Iceland, and joins a club of people with similar obsessions - Not many of them had actually been to Iceland, but they knew an awful lot about the country, and they liked to talk about it. The star member is one who claims to have lived in the country although her insights seem remarkably similar to those in the Lonely Planet Guide - and then the 2008 financial crisis strikes the country.

Piercing (피어싱) was my favourite of the stories and the one exception to the neatly wrapped up endings. This is a disturbing tale of a man who has separated from his wife, herself a vet who specialises in neutering dogs, an act that gives her peculiar pleasure and fires her taste for both meat and sex:

She was an expert: she could tell a dog’s breed just by looking at its nose. But honestly, to my wife, there were only two kinds of dogs: dogs that were docile and dogs that weren’t. If a once- d ocile dog entered heat or wanted to mate, it typically became distracted and aggressive. So really, the division was between dogs that had been fixed and dogs that hadn’t. My wife was a recognized spay and neuter expert. The customers who put their pets in her care loved dogs, although she didn’t really like them herself. There was a difference between knowing dogs and loving dogs, but it didn’t really matter.

The narrator takes consolation in having his body pierced in multiple places, and a disturbing relationship witnh an equally piercing-obsessed young woman, which, as the story progresses, we realise may have ended in violence.

Don't Cry, Hongdo (홍도야 울지 마라) is an almost novella length coming-of-age tale told by a 10 year old girl who starts by describing the various snack vendors outside her school gates:

The dried fish fillets, roasting over a food stall’s hot fire on this warm spring afternoon, were so fresh they looked like they might rise from the dead days after being cooked. The lettuce in my hamburger crinkled like cellophane. Children crossed through the school’s front gate with rolling backpacks as high as their hips. They dropped their bags and headed to the sugar candy stand, where golden-brown sugary discs were stamped with shapes like stars and hearts.

(yes that last-one is Dalgona (달고나) of later Squid Game fame)

But as a craze for organic food takes off, the local school mums declare war on the vendors, and Hong-do tries to set up her bereaved mother with her substitute Korean teacher.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley.

[Queralt✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I say about this short story collection? I love the cover (a zebra eating cup noodles? Yes, please), but Yun Ko-eun’s stories are really not for me (I previously read and did not care for her novel The Disaster Tourist). I like books that allude to an issue or are part of a larger conversation, but Yun seems to have a story in mind with a little thought behind it, and she just tells the story and writes down the thought in case you missed it. It’s sort of simplistic and longer than it has to be for no reason.

I won’t bother with a proper review but here are my thoughts on the stories:
1. Table for One. I think this story was written when honbap started becoming a thing [honbap = honja (alone) + bap (meal)]. Eating alone in Korea can be quite difficult, most restaurants only serve a minimum of two servings. So, lately, if you go to Korea, you can use Naver Maps (like Google Maps) to search for restaurants that are honbap friendly. This story is about a woman trying to get comfortable with this after being excluded from meals at work.
Rating: 2.5 stars. Eating alone in public is something I have struggled with since I’ve lived in Korea because it feels like it isn’t allowed or it’s something strange. I wanted to like this so bad, but it was just so pointless. Yun fed us her message directly without letting us decide what we thought ourselves.

2. Sweet Escape. Bedbugs.
Rating: 1 star. Nope.

3. Invader Graphic. An author is a freeloader and spends the day using free wifi and outlets at a department store, eating samples, and then doing the same at coffee shops. It’s a story about what freeloaders did to Korea.
Rating: 3 stars. Honestly, this was such a crazy mess with such a dissatisfying progression. I really like the concept and I wish it had just ended when the “thief” showed up.

4. Hyeonmong Park’s Hall of Dreams. You can hire Hyeonmong to sleep in your pjs to commission dreams. This is a story about the need to monetize everything.
Rating: 1.5 stars. I didn’t get the dream stuff. It was boring.

5. Roadkill. A vending machine repairman gets stuck in a hotel during a snowstorm. A capitalistic dystopia with a fantastic twist and a dash of climate change.
Rating: 1.5 stars. SO boring. This is the story that made me pick up the book. How do you turn something like this into something this soporific?

6. Time Capsule 1994. This story is about the Seoul Millennium Time Capsule in Namsan Park, which has to be dug up earlier than expected because of corrosion and the items have to be replaced.
Rating: 2 stars. Cool idea, I hate the execution.

7. Iceland. A woman takes an online test with a surprising result: she’s 2% compatible with South Korea, yet her ideal country match is Iceland. This drives her to join an Iceland-obsessed group. This story is about (not) fitting in and wanting to feel you belong.
Rating: 3 stars. I really liked the first half but then it just dragged without making any interesting point.

8. Piercing. A dude likes to get piercings and he’s separated. Dogs, meat, sex, who cares?
Rating: 1 star. Thank you, next.

9. Don’t Cry, Hongdo. A young girl likes food. Why do we need so many pages about her describing who sells food? I do not know. It deals with the organic food obsession of our society.
Rating: 1.5 stars. Honestly, who cares. I skimmed it after the first 20 pages.

This is my last Yun Ko-eun.

[Kyle C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like her novel, "The Disaster Tourist", Yun Ko-eun's stories are captivating Kafkaesque tales. In one story, a woman enrolls in a course to learn how to eat alone in restaurants; in another, a man wears the pajamas of his customers and sells them dreams when they return; a man becomes trapped in a blizzard and is forced to stay in a seemingly empty motel stocked with hundreds of vending machines, where he cannot get in contact with any manager but still somehow receives traffic fines in the mail for his illegally parked car stuck in the snow; after taking an online quiz which tells her she only has a 2.3% match with her home country of Korea but a 42% match with Iceland, a woman joins an online fan group and memorizes every detail of the culture and geography of this Nordic island. Ko-eun's characters are often alienated and lonely—divorced mothers, orphaned children, disaffected workers, unemployed job-seekers, who sublimate their existential angst into petty paranoia: in one story, a man loses his job and, instead of applying for a new one, becomes increasingly worried about a potential invasion of bed-bugs in his apartment complex; in another, a mother rails against junk food in the school, carcinogenic chemicals in her cosmetics, and anyone wearing a hat—a potential kidnapper. The characters are desperate to find some authority who can give them advice and certainty: a woman watches an expert who can order beef stew by herself and even dares to ask for a fan to be turned on; another woman attends the lectures of an expert on Iceland, someone who lived there, and asks her everything (every topic from its glaciers to pizza joints).

Yun Ko-eun's characters are all anxious—worried about hidden dangers and imminent catastrophe—and yet, in each of the stories, their neurotic angst is paradoxically both a product of modern society and a precondition for the community they construct. The woman who has no one to eat with during her lunch-breaks ironically finds purpose and belonging in a school for people nervous about eating alone; the man who worries about bed-bugs ironically gets to know his neighbors better and become more involved in their lives; the woman afraid of the dietary risks of processed food joins an informal parents' association which agitates for organic food. In her comic, surreal style, Yun Ko-eun shows how loneliness and insecurity are a powerful basis for affinity with other lonely, insecure people who can indulge their paranoid fears. The remedy for neurosis isn't stability but dreams and fiction—the man who sells dreams finds that, after spending his whole life ignored, he can "assert his existence by dreaming"; a girl discovers that drawings are more real and powerful when she refuses to draw her school exactly as it really is but rather how she imagines it—a prison surrounded by a cavalcade of eccentric street hawkers and malingerers, a cotton-candy man, a fish man, a flasher.

These stories reminded me of Kikuko Tsumura's "There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job" and Hiroki Oyamada's "The Factory"—in each of Ko-eun's stories, work seems depressingly meaningless and trivial; the world is strange and surreal; and yet the characters find meaning in their re-imagination of the world around them, bonding with likeminded outcasts and finding solidarity in the absurd.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yun Ko Eun's collection of short stories are simply told yet not so simple to understand. They are usually about everyday things looked at from different angles, with a bit of whimsy thrown in. I found myself comparing her writing to Haruki Murakami for it's clean writing and to Mona Awad for it's surreal imagery. My two favourite stories were the two longest ones, Table for One, a story about a woman taking a class on how to eat in public alone and enjoy it, and Don't Cry, Hongdo, a story about a young girl and her relationship with her mother, her homeroom teacher and sugar.

Yun Ko Eun has a specific writing style, all her stories were told in the same consistent tone. Truth be told, I'm not sure if I fully understood where she was taking me, but I followed along as best as I could.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Maybe the cure for anxiety wasn’t stability; maybe it was dreams.”

This was an interesting fiction collection. The tone was pretty conversational throughout, with the material ranging from strange to mundane. A few of the stories felt like they went on for a bit too long when they could have had very impactful and succinct endings if they were shorter. But I loved this author’s creativity and how things were sometimes worded. Example: saying that throughout your life in your relationships, from family members to partners, you are basically handed from person to person like a baton. I'll comment briefly on each story individually.

Table For One - I would definitely need to take this class for overcoming your anxiety about eating alone in public, but I would be too mortified to do the homework. Though I absolutely wanted to eat all of that delicious food! The idea of a barbecue restaurant being the hardest level was very funny.

Sweet Escape - A man becomes OBSESSED with preventing bedbugs from getting into his home. The way this story educates you about bedbugs in general made even me more paranoid. Though as you can probably imagine, the residents in this story take things to absolute extremes.

Invader Graphic - This one is odd. A writer uses the public bathroom/lounge area of a department store as an office to write her book, and the paragraphs switch back and forth between her life and the plot of the book she’s trying to write. I liked how the author wrapped everything up in this one. There's a plotline about Space Invader imagery showing up as graffiti around the city, and that seemed like such a random thing to write about but the author made it work.

Hyeonmong Park’s Hall of Dreams - This story was by far my favorite. As someone with an “Inception” tattoo, I’m a sucker for anything with dream-related content and I loved the concept here. (Essentially, a dream vendor.) I do think the story was a little too long and I didn’t completely understand the ending, but I still really liked it.

Roadkill - A very depressing story about a hotel with vending machines on a conveyor belt. It ends up being about the cruelty and hopelessness of life in general. 

Time Capsule 1994 - Another sad story, about the passage of time and a symbolic emptiness. I like how the author chooses things to use as metaphors that don’t feel terribly obvious, but they work well for the stories.

Iceland - Probably least favorite story. It’s just not as interesting as the others. The narrator becomes very interested in the country of Iceland and considers moving there. Not a lot more to it than that. 

Piercing - A story that’s a little disjointed and contains pretty gross descriptions of infected piercings. Something bad happens to a dog in this one, too. Pretty disturbing ending that kind of comes out of nowhere.

Don’t Cry, Hongdo - My other least favorite, probably. About a kid who just wants to eat junk food but her mother insists on only organic. There’s more to it than that, and it did have some funny statements such as: “My teacher took us to McDonalds, like a dork.” But parts of it were confusing and I couldn’t quite understand exactly what was happening, and the young girl’s crush on her teacher was unsettling.

Overall, a pretty decent collection. I'm giving it a 3.5. I think it was worth reading just for the dream story and the title story alone.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review! All opinions are my own.

TW: Animal abuse/death, Suicide, Bullying, Sexual harassment 

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really versatile short story collection that shows off the author’s talents in a multitude of ways. My personal favorites were ‘Iceland’, which had a fantastic humorous tone to it, and ‘Pierced’, due to the author’s brilliant switch in genre; it was also where I believed the best writing in the collection resides.

Some of the translations were quite wordy and would maybe benefit from another round of editing, as I believe they impacted the storytelling, most noticeably in the first few stories. Nothing to do with the author herself, of course.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this collection.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading a news article about the rise of the non-marriage movement in South Korea with a section on the concurrent increase in solo dining and I realized with a start that I had neglected to review this collection of short stories by Yun Ko-eun. The original Korean title of both the collection and the titular short story is 1인용 식탁 (1-inyong sikt’ak), translated to English by Lizzie Buehler. Thanks to Columbia University Press and Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review with apologies for the tardiness.

I was really taken with the jacket cover design by Chang Jae Lee, of a zebra sitting at a table eating cup instant noodles. Wins the most unique cover art of the year.

Table for one 3.5 ⭐️ Inyeong, a lady who works at an office attends a class on how to dine solo. The instructions on eating food dishes based on music tempo is certainly interesting as with the observation (also in the article linked) that certain foods are more difficult to order/eat by oneself. Inyeong is much taken by a confident lady with more 'advanced' solo dining skills ordering a single serving of BBQ pork belly.

Sweet Escape 4 ⭐️ A married unemployed man descends into obsessive paranoia about bedbugs but he becomes a surprising volunteer in his condo building for an initiative. More musicality resonance with bedbug bites. ~Shudder~

Invader Graphic 4⭐️ Story within a story- writer writes in a department store bathroom. Writing is a solitary activity but more so because this author cannot tell people where her writing 'studio' is located but it's a surprisingly practical choice albeit out of precarity.

Hyeonmong Park’s Hall Of Dreams 4.5⭐️ A man Hyeonbong Park dreams made-to-order dreams for people but commas start to derail his business. Very creative.

Roadkill 4.75 ⭐️ My favourite story. Dystopian about an owner of vending machine who gets stuck at a motel while replenishing supplies due to a huge snowstorm. He runs out of money and goes into debt while staying at the motel. Although bleak and disorienting, it is chilling social commentary about the debilitating cycle of debt, consumerism, surveillance and lack of human connection.

Iceland 3.75 ⭐️ This has a tie-in to Yun's other novel that I've read previously The Disaster Tourist. Quite wistful - a website which matches one to a country. The protagonist is matched to Iceland and develops an obsession about the country. Like her novel, there's a tragicomic feel with a satirical ending that it was all for naught.

As in a collection, there were some stories I didn't take to like Time Capsule. Piercing, in particular, was off-putting to me involving an unprofessional veterinarian, death of a dog and unnecessary indignity after passing, this is partially why this ARC languished for a while. I confess I felt disinclined to continue reading after.

Overall, the collection contains fresh original ideas of people in unusual situations with real life resonance. Whether it's unemployment, debt, capitalism, loneliness, obsession or living on the edge, Yun pushes the absurdity of the idea to its furthest limit with startling cynical results. The stories often contain little echoes trailing each other.

[Michela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Table For One is a collection of indelible short stories by contemporary South Korean author Yun Ko-eun. Her fiction is bursting with images that toe the line between realism and the fantastic, and her characters are quirky, lonely, hopeless, sad, isolated... unique, just like her stories. There are some that I enjoyed reading more than others, the titular one being my absolute favorite, but overall they are all pretty good! I would recommend this book if you enjoy literary translated fiction and characters finding themselves in surreal situations.
4 stars.

* I'd like to thank Yun Ko-eun, Columbia University Press and NetGalley for providing this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

[Barry Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

KBS Korea 24 @KBSKorea24

“On today's #KoreaBookClub, @BarryPWelsh shares "Table for One" by #YunKoeun. Learn how Yun addresses elements of modern Korean society and how her #shortstory explores social anxiety, the rise in single-person households, and the concept of solitary living.” #1인용식탁 #윤고은

19:10-20:00 KST, Mon-Fri on KBS WORLD Radio. Download the KBS Kong / KBS WORLD Radio Mobile apps or subscribe to the Korea 24 podcast for your daily updates!

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[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

Well, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this short story collection, but I was pleasantly surprised! Stories range from the not-so-graphic and odd (“Don’t Cry Hongdo”) to very graphic and very odd (“Piercing”), so there’s truly something for everyone in “Table for One” written by Yun Ko-eun and translated by Lizzie Buehler.

My favourite stories were “Table for One,” “Sweet Escape,” “Hyeongmong Parks Hall of Dreams,” “Roadkill,” “Iceland,” and “Piercing”, although I enjoyed every one of Ko-eun’s stories. Thematically, this collection is reminiscent of Bora Chung’s “Cursed Bunny” and Hilma Wolitzer’s “Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket” in which the characters are anxious and slightly unhinged as they try to navigate—at times—their unhappy lives. In terms of writing style, Ko-eun’s collection is similar to Chung’s and Sayaka Murata’s short story collection, “Life Ceremony”.

At times rooted in the real and at times rooted in the surreal, it’s easy to see why “Table for One” is so well-loved by reviewers: it’s a thoughtful and humorous meditation on contemporary Korean life for males and females of all ages.

If you’re a fan of short story collections, contemporary Korean literature, surreal and icky imagery, and insight to the anxieties that people in modern societies are experiencing, then I would highly recommend Yun Ko-eun’s short story collection! Furthermore, if you enjoy reading stories that are a bit odd and wacky but use the odd and wacky to convey important messages about everyday issues, then this could be a collection for you!

Many thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for an ARC of “Table for One” written by Yun Ko-eun and translated by Lizzie Buehler in exchange for an honest review!

[juch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wacky worlds that spiral at moments into smth so real and affecting… just fin the last story and I found the child’s perspective and romantic but more obsession w her teacher so real even tho the details were strange

Favorite stories were hall of dreams, table for one, bedbugs. I like that none of the stories really resolved

GREAT TRANSLATION!!!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Table for one is an interesting mix of short stories concerned with modern life in Korea by Yun Ko-eun. They are quirky, often slightly off beat and unashamedly follow their characters onto weird paths. I am thankful for receiving a review copy via Netgalley, but found myself left a bit cold.

All of these characters are completly obsessive about something. They flee their lifes by concentrating on bugs, dreams, invaders... whatever. But while I often found it interesting in the beginning, these stories stayed out their welcome. The point - at least the point I got - was hammered home. Over and over. Not sure there was more than one point at all. These stories were, at the same time, too weird and not weird enough. Yet, of course, I had favorites as well as stories I just wanted to end.


I liked:

Invader Graphic Is about a finance guy who slipps further and further into his fascination with invader graphics popping up all over the world, until he can think about nothing else. It is equally about the woman who, living from free products in a shopping mall, makes him up.

Piercing is a story about... well, infected piercings, loss, and insanity.

Don't Cry, Hongdo concentrates on a child narrator, whose mother is waging a war against unhealthy foods, people with hats and other dangers to society.

I kinda liked, but was not completely convinced by:

Table for One. Here, a woman takes a course to learn how to eat alone in restaurants, thereby finding that she actually just wanted to find other people who do not want to eat alone. Interesting concept, but it dragged on and seemed very... artificial.

Sweet Escape is about a guy preparing for his first great overseas adventure with his wife, who becomes preoccupied with Bedbugs. His fixation with the little buggers is shared by his flat and becomes more and more debilitating.

Iceland follows a person who becomes convinced that Iceland is the perfect country for them. They get together with other Iceland-aficinados, and yet ever quite seem to be able to leave their korean lifes.


I really disliked:

Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams is ridiculous, a very long story about a guy selling dreams he dreams for people (weird) who loses the ability to dream (also weird.)

Roadkill is the tale of a vending machine guy caught at a motel, unable to escape.

Time Capsule 1994 is telling us about a prematurly dug up time capsule, and something that should not be in it.

All in all, I am not angry to have read this collection, but it has left suprising little impact on me.

[Komal Hashmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much, @netgalley and the publisher, for the ARC of Table for One: Stories by Yun Ko-Eun, translated by Lizzie Buehler.

The book was a collection of 9 stories and it was truly a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
One word in which I would describe this book is; obsession!

All the stories follow a specific theme and they are mostly about extreme level of obsessions about any particular thing in question. The idea of escaping the routine and monotony of the daily life and how the protagonists focus their energies in following those hobbies or interests quite obsessively until the plot twists happen is absolutely intriguing and it keeps the reader hooked.

I couldn’t make sense at some points but this book was such a different one from the other books.

The human emotions of loneliness, boredom, passions, burn-out from the strict jobs and routines and relationships are portrayed in a unique way.


Table for One: an unknown narrator becomes an expert at eating alone. This reads like a documentary at times but is also very relatable to everyone who is afraid of eating or doing stuff alone.

Sweet Escape: the obsession with bedbugs was a bit too much and it leaves you claustrophobic but the twist was a good one.

Invader Graphic: It was another tale of being obsessed with invader graphics to escape the routine but the ending got me confused.

Hyeonmong Park’s Hall of Dreams: this was truly weird. But also the concept of too much competition and the war between the original creators and the ones that came after was all too real. The idea of selling dreams or in fact selling just about everything that exists was quite interesting.

Roadkill: To be trapped in a Motel in a snowstorm was truly apocalyptic. The element of magical realism was just too good. It gave me the creeps for real.

Time Capsule 1994: This got me nostalgic with the concept of burying a time capsule with all the things that happened ages ago. But I couldn’t get the ending.

Iceland: The obsession with Iceland was literally on another level in this story.

Piercing: This broke my heart. It had its share of violence and the idea of patriarchy and how men want to control literally everything and consider women’s bodies as objects was scary, to say the least.

Don’t Cry, Hongdo: this is very relatable especially how everything with the word “organic” sells these days. It is also about a child’s loneliness because of constantly being misunderstood. It touches many intense themes.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

I wanted to read this because I really enjoyed The Disaster Tourist by the same author, but I think Table for One was even better. Almost every story was interesting, fun to read, and thought provoking. I think my favorites might be Table for One, Invader Graphic, and Iceland. But honestly I loved the bedbug story, too, I read it a week ago but it is still so fresh in my mind. I am excited for the release day because I want to buy a couple copies as gifts!

I want to write more and gush about this but I also don't want to spoil any of the stories. I just enjoyed reading it so much.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the way that digital formats make it viable to publish fiction that is considered too “short” for book publication and too “long” for journals. This well-translated novella’s length is perfect for the story the author wants to tell, unlike the case of her novel Disaster Tourist, which is based on intriguing idea but felt flawed in performance. This novella worked for me. Helps to have watched many Korean dramas and to have visited South Korea, but between the lines, there is a universal message here about the individual and society.

[Catarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these short stories! Not all to the same extent but even the, let's say "least good" ones, were still very interesting to read. I'd say my favorites were the first five. But overall this was one of the best collections I've read in a long while and I will definitely be reading more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley and Columbia University Press for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Barry Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watch my review on YouTube - here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0yE0...

[Jumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

#BookReview

Table for One
by Yun Ko-eun
Translated from Korean by Lizzie Buehler
Genre: Anthology
Pages: 280
Rating: 4/5

An anthology where each story commands a plot that takes us deeper into what is ailing the modern society, the lens of each plot tilted such that the story we get to read, despite being firmly rooted in our current time, will still seem a bit out of the ordinary: e.g. the first story is about a woman who joins a course to eat alone in a restaurant. I enjoy eating alone in restaurants and cafes, and so many people have told me that they want to learn from me how to eat alone. But to think that there can be a course for this is quite bizzare, right? 😁

Serious question: should I start a course on how to eat alone? 😁

This set of stories can be appreciated to their full glory only if one is willing to delve below the surface of the obvious and interesting plots to understand their themes, and thus will work best when readers are in a mood to do so.

Every story is embedded with a myriad of thoughts for reflection, and this felt like a double edged sword to me. Because though every bit was relevant to the stories, and though they made the stories more real, they ultimately added a lot for reflections, which made this book a very slow read for me. And maybe it's just me, but somehow I found so many thoughts put together a bit distracting from the plot. Overall I took a very long time to complete this collection. Most of the stories are really good and this anthology is the kind that can win the prizes but still may not be a hit with the mass.

Here's a detailed review of a few of the stories; overall the anthology has 9 stories. After multiple attempts, I had DNFd one story: Roadkill.

1.Table for one: In this story, a woman joins a course to learn eating alone in a restaurant. With its unique plot, the story deftly explores human emotions of loneliness and our desire to belong.
Rating: 5/5

2. Sweet Escape: A man becomes obsessed with bedbugs. The story starts well, and at one point I am reminded of the panic and anxiety of the lockdown and the pandemic. But after a point, like his wife (more than her in fact), I was starting to get irritated with his and the story's extreme obsession with bedbugs, and was happy when the story finally came to an end, despite the fact that the story did good justice to its theme of finding meaning to one's existence (borderline existential crisis I would say) and the anxiety that accompanies it.
Rating: 3/5

3. Invader Graphic: A story about a novelist; the protagonist of the WIP novel she's writing is in search of art spaces created by the real life artist (not mentioned as real in the story) Invader, who hacks public spaces to install his art. Just how artists like Invader and Banksy invade public space for their art, the novelist too invades public space to create her novel. The story's theme is commercialism vs free loader, and readers are given the free space to choose their sides, while the protagonist doesn't hesitate to point his fingers.
Rating: 4/5

4. Hyeongmong's Hall of Dreams

This story is everything, and then so much more than even everything about today's age of consumerism and its zenith and abyss, where dream is but a commodity. Or are they dark holes? Told in satire and compassion, and moulded in deep metaphors, this story read to me like a masterpiece. It's a story that made me pause for a long while.
Rating: 5/5

7. Iceland

A story about obsession. It made me wonder what is the role of obsession in our lives? Does it exist to add meaning or colours to a mundane life?
Rating: 4/5

9. Don't Cry, Hongdo

This story skillfully brings to adult readers the complicated life of any young kid, in this case, Hongdo. While we adults battle with careers and parenting, the kids live in their world, with their own priorities which can range anything from junk food to getting their single parent hooked to a new partner. Hongdo is an artist; in this story we get to know two of her paintings—one painting helps us see how imagination blends with reality for her, and the other helps us see how her world is turning bleak day by day, as everyone around her is trying to make the world a better place for her. I loved this story because with wit and art, the author so expertly showed us the inside of Hongdo's mind.
Rating: 5/5

Q: Do I recommend Table for One to my fellow readers?
A: Yes and No!! This anthology is the kind that can win the prizes but still may not be a hit with the mass.

[erika ✿ · Rating 3 out of 5]

— 3.5 stars ✰

In a series of short stories, Yun Ko-eun examines solitary city dwellers and highlights their sense of isolation stemming from Korean urban culture, particularly focusing on characters being driven to obsession by their segregation from society. Preoccupied with their lone state, these characters often find themselves feeling increasingly alienated from others around them, focusing on random concepts like bedbugs to give their life meaning. There is often a strong theme of music and rhythm permeating these stories. The writer does a compelling job when it comes to descriptions, seamlessly blending together genres such as thriller, horror, magical realism and fiction, whilst also merging together two completely different concepts, and yet somehow this whole kaleidoscope seems to work. As an example, there is an idea presented in the first story that each type of food (sushi, steak..) has its own chewing rhythm, which can relate to different types of classical dance music (waltz, tango..).

Considering that this is a debut, it is a very strong one.

Table for one = 4 stars

It centres around a shy office worker as she attends a course designed to build her confidence and teach her to enjoy her solidarity as she lunches. I think many readers would be able to relate to this main character, who constantly seeks approval and thus picks lunch spots further away from the office, in hopes to avoid her colleagues seeing her all by herself. Something about this story felt so familiar and yet the concept of loneliness and self-confidence was explored in an incredibly unique way. I really loved this story.

Sweet escape = 3.5 stars

Not my favourite of the batch but still a very strong contender. Here we explore the life of a man becoming madly obsessed with bedbugs. We follow him from the very beginning, when he only just hears this notion mentioned in the news, until they are effectively the only thing at the forefront of his mind. Even though this story focuses around bedbugs as the main theme, it was executed so well that I really got to feel the emotions of the narrator.

Invader graphic = 3.75 stars

Narrated by a woman who spends most of her time in a shopping mall trying to live entirely of free products, we get to see her writing her novel camped out in the bathrooms. We got glimpses of both the woman’s life and the life of the main character in her story, which was an interesting writing concept. As the shopping mall transitions into a more capitalist state, the narrator finds herself now having to provide a receipt in order to sit in cafes and being kicked out by cleaners who spot her staying in one s

Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams = 2.5 stars

Initially, the concept of this was very intriguing, but I felt like it was another story exploring the theme of obsession and I grew a little bored of it. Yet, the sense of the characters lives getting out of hand almost reminded me of the nature of Junji Ito’s horror mangas.

Roadkill = 5 stars

This story was by far my favourite one, having read it a few days ago, I still find myself thinking about it as I go about my day-to-day tasks. A man finds himself in an isolated motel, which seems to have a large selection of vending machines, yet he never runs into other visitors. As it happens, he finds himself snowed in and has to figure out what to do next. In a blend of horror and thriller, this story had me on the edge of my seat.

Time capsule 1994 = 3.25 stars

The concept of this story was so interesting and it was a nice spin to tell it from the perspective of an unlikeable main character. Again, it did explore the concept of obsession and paranoia, but didn’t feel too repetitive.

Iceland = 3.75

As someone who is a fan of the post-rock band Sigur Rós, I enjoyed a whole story based around a protagonist, who is dissatisfied with life becoming increasingly obsessed with Iceland after undertaking a country compatibility quiz.

Piercing = 4.5

This story was so good and I loved how disturbing this felt. Essentially, we follow a man who has separated from his wife. He takes consolation in piercings even though they cause him profound pain and discomfort, which could be an interesting psychological angle to explore. The author brushes over the idea that pain may be a way for him to justify his trauma related to the passing away of his dog, but the interpretation if very much left to the reader.

Don’t Cry, Hongdo = 3 stars

As one of the longest stories in the collection, ‘Don’t cry Hongdo’ is a coming of age tale told through the perspective of a schoolgirl. As the craze for organic food takes off around her, she finds her school implementing a vast array of new rules and standards, which banishes the snack vendors outside her school gates that she has become so accustomed to. This story felt very much like a reflection of society.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for providing me with early access!

[Dima · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of 9 short stories, reflecting life in contemporary South Korea. The stories are loosely thematic - our protagonists are often lonely and trying to find their place in society and life. There is a deep sense of dejection in nearly all stories, but despite this - they also have a glimmer of hope, and suggest there is a path to move forward, even if it's not what expectations might lead one to believe. Many of the stories are absurdist in nature, but this is done in such a creative way that it adds a lot to the quality of storytelling and messaging.

The first story, "Table for One" (giving the book its name), talks about a woman who struggles to fit in, and to be comfortable with who she is. Through joining a course that teaches her how to eat alone, the routines she adopts slowly help her come out of her shell. Gently told, and with a tender protagonist - an emotive and hopeful story about introverts. 4/5.

The second story, "Sweet Escape", tells the story of a young man, who, having lost his job, is slowly sinking into despondence, driven by an uncontrollable fear of bedbugs. As reality forces him to confront his worst fears he also finds solace and calm through this process. A story about, essentially, how losing one's job can affect your psyche and motivations. It's also a fun story about bedbugs, and how society reacts to them! 5/5

The third story, "Invader Graphic", is about routine. Our narrator has her own, and, in turn, tells the story, where the protagonist has his own. Both struggle with society's expectations and the constant comparisons and competitiveness imposed on people. As the story progresses the story within a story follows the protagonist as his structured existence starts falling apart, and give rise to something better. At the same time, we learn more about the narrator, who, in defiance of societal norms, actually seems quite happy going to department stores. A story about following your own path in careful and subtle defiance, even if all there is to it is deciding to spend time in a department store. 5/5

The fourth story, "Hyeongmong Park's Hall of Dreams", tells the story of Hyeongmong, an entrepreneur, who decides to set up a business to sell dreams to busy people who don't have time to dream. The story follows the rise and fall of his business, but the main topic, in my view, is the commoditisation of hope and leisure in modern society, and how even the most beautiful of ideas can be corrupted by commerce. 5/5

The fifth story, "Roadkill", is my favourite. It is the most absurd, telling the story of a vending machine owner that, while servicing one of his machines in a remote hotel, gets stuck in same hotel due to a horrific snowstorm. As the days of his forced "imprisonment" extend, we see his buoyancy diminish, hope lost, and living space contract. A powerful analogy of what effects capitalist and consumerist society, whether knowingly or inadvertenly, has on the individual, and how, eventually, a person can become roadkill in the Kafkaesque struggle to live a normal life. 5/5+

The sixth story, "Time Capsule", tells the story of a time capsule that gets unearthed before its time due to corrosion, while the protagonist, responsible for cleaning and restoring it prior to reinterment, struggles with her own memories of her step daughter. A story about the artificiality of memory and the futility of objective memories, as well as their haunting nature, and power to influence the present. 5/5

In the seventh story, "Iceland", our protagonist is not happy, and looks for escape in her obsession with Iceland, which an online survey suggested she matches best with. The story follows her increasing fascination with Iceland, and the dangers and hopes this can lead to. 4/5

The eighth story, "Piercing", is the horror story in the bunch. It follows a man, who struggles to balance his natural docility with the need to rebel somehow. Being unemployed (and perhpas unemployable), and having divorced his wife, the protagonist seeks solace in inflicting pain upon himself, and in tiny glimpses of hope stemming from casual encounters with a local prostitute. Reminiscent in style of Ryu Murakami. 5/5

The ninth and last story, "Don't Cry, Hongdo", is told from the perspective of a 10 year old girl, who struggles to be a child in a world of adults who keep disappointing her. It's not a hopeless story, but it's a sad one, talking about how adult obsessions and preoccupations can affect and harm children. 5/5

Overall - this is an excellent story collection, and perhaps one of the best I've read in a long time. It's doesn't just offer an excellent glimpse of life in South Korea - it also reflects some of the sadness that afflicts Gen Z, and how, in some cases, hope can be found in simple quotidian things.

Highly recommend it to anyone interested in South Korea, or frankly what it means to be 10-30 year old in our contemporary world.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Void. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Table for One is a collection short stories that aims to demonstrate contemporary society’s messiness that sometimes difficult to believe that it’s real. Yun Ko Eun managed to play with this blurring realism and fantasy in some of her stories in this book. There is so much to be said about the world we live in today. Right off the bat, the first story will strike one of the biggest concern people have: loneliness, individuality, and solitude; how they differ from each other but intrinsically linked. I enjoyed the first story a lot. To me, it’s a solid start that introduced me to what I’m dealing with. The first story is about a woman office worker that attends a course outside work that she hopes can help her overcome the uneasiness of being excluded. As to not spoil further, this story ends with a deconstruction of the beginning of the story. The world building was established really well along with an engaging narrative from the main character. The main character was also developed nicely. It’s such a neat little story with layers of social commentary.

Unfortunately, after that first story, the book started to drag for quite a while. I understand that the author is trying to write stories where the readers do not think that the curtains were just blue. If anyone miss the humongous allegories presented in this book, then I’m at a loss of words. You don’t have to understand the true meaning of these stories that uses various symbolism, just that as long as you get the gist of it, this book can be enjoyable. But honestly, I wish the stories weren’t so convoluted with ideas and social commentaries that they lose touch in storytelling. A few of the stories feels like they are made after the author set a box containing the social commentaries she wanted to tell, so the world building is made to cross match those ideas rather than established to complement the plot and characters.

I did enjoy some of them more than the others. Like the one where the world commercialized dreams, and the last one with the pov from a kid living in a world with “organic” craze. I noticed that the ones that I like are the ones with well-rounded main characters. Their point of view are interesting enough for me to go on with the story, they have their unique individuality and distinct from other characters in the story. And those are the things to me that made them different from other stories that are more formulaic. I don’t think formulaic stories are always bad, just that I think even with formula there’s gotta be something different about how you presented them. Most of these stories incite grim after thoughts; they’re showing the readers repeatedly, look at our society bro, we’re doomed bro, fr this is the world we live in, ya see? I really don’t mind reading a book that has disheartening tone from start to finish. But to me this book does not have a singular core, like what one specific theme that connected all of these stories, so I am overwhelmed. Because it wants to reach topics as broad as it possibly can while applying a lot of symbolism, it’s a bit of a train wreck.

With that being said, I appreciate the amount of thoughts that must have been put into making this collection of short stories. After all, Yun Ko Eun has created so many unique plots and worlds in this book that me as a reader may not encountered in any other place. The last story is probably one of the most nuanced and profound commentary on the complexities that children in the new generation faced while growing up in today’s world. It’s incredible. Here’s a great quote from that story:

“I’d realized that there weren’t many opportunities to talk about family at school, since we mostly gossiped about celebrities and clothing trends and dance moves. Kids spent the school day as fellow prisoners, and after class, we passed through the gates together, briefly making sugar candy and eating it before parting ways to our respective after-school tutoring programs. The next day, we’d convene at school and talk once again about celebrities and clothing and dances and teachers and the weird kids. At school and at home, I didn’t have the chance to talk about my dead father.”

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC to review this book.

[rsya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously enjoyed her novel, 'The Disaster Tourist', I jumped at the chance to read her collection of short stories.

Overall rating: 4.5/5 stars.

The stories are absurd, quirky, and surreal. Two narratives with a more grounded tone have particularly grown on me: 'Time Capsule 1994' and 'Don't Cry, Hongdo'.

In 'Time Capsule 1994', a woman reflects on her past relationship with her step-daughter as their city unearths, restores, and re-buries a time capsule. Meanwhile, 'Don't Cry, Hongdo' portrays a different mother-daughter dynamic. The rebellious 10-year-old Hongdo challenges her mother's obsession with organic lifestyle, preferring cotton candy—a stark contrast to the health-conscious diet enforced at home and school.

My favourite piece is when the writing touches on capitalism. In 'Table For One', a female employee finds dining alone in public daunting, especially in family restaurants where meals are typically served for two or more. She faces awkward interaction with the server and stares from other customers, not to mention the food and monetary waste:

"More than half the order of the woman who came alone at 7:00 p.m. remains on the table. She probably asked for one extra serving of pork so that she could eat the first. At a barbecue restaurant selling only servings of two or more, one portion of the woman's meat is left to turn into charcoal. At 7:30, her meal ends."

Determined to improve herself, she enrols in a course promising to teach the skill of dining alone. Rationalising her 200,000 won expense, she thinks, "If I could develop a healthy stomach and an open-minded spirit in three months, like the flyer had said, wouldn't that be the most efficient way to spend my money?"

Anxious individuals like her sought out the course to help them navigate real-world challenges. This invites the question, considering that the coaching business was born out of the food and beverage industry's focus on profits over customer needs, does this group of customers end up paying double?

The relentless push for customers to buy more, often through group purchase so that a business can drive up its sales, recurs in ‘Don't Cry, Hongdo’. In an attempt to recoup his losses, a cotton candy vendor outside of Hongdo's school offers a 2+1 Free deal: "bring two friends with you and one eats for free". Some students liken it to a pyramid scheme (I found this exchange hilarious). They eventually get themselves into a group of 3 to take advantage of the offer, including Hongdo. Later that day, she returns to the same stall with 'two new foreign friends'. Faced with this unexpected trio, the profit-driven vendor deems them eligible for the offer, when under normal circumstances her new friends would raise suspicious eyebrows.

‘Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams’ reads to me like an allegory for a financial crash. Park sells custom dreams until competitors flood the market with new derivatives: instant dreams, age-specific dreams, and even organic dreams for the health-conscious. Everyone is buying and selling until the inevitable happens — the crash, or in this case, Park's Hall of Dream comes to an end, and what follows turns into something more surreal. Among the nine stories, this one stands out as the most complex.

‘Roadkill’ is a story where the real horror is capitalism. How easy it is to lose a source of income and watch yourself getting deeper and deeper into the rut, when the system that is supposed to help, fails you. The endless conveyor belt going around further emphasises this loop.

In ‘Invader Graphic’, a young female writer working on her first novel tries to navigate her day at minimal cost, choosing an unconventional workplace: a department store. She argues that her freeloading doesn't increase the store's expenses since sample perfumes, soap, and lotion are already accounted as part of the overhead.

For fans of surreal, thought-provoking stories with contemporary commentary, this one might be for you.

Special thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for my digital copy, in exchange for an honest review.

[Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories was mostly mundane. The one story about the vending machine manager at the motel was really the only one that caught my interest for a little bit.

[Anna Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Table for One’ was a funny one for me in that it felt like a real slog to get through the nine stories but I couldn’t honestly say that I didn’t like it, which leaves me in a weird middle ground of enjoying the quirkiness but not quite getting some of the allegory.
Every story felt like it was a little too long (except maybe Space Invader, which was one of my favourites), as if the prose saw the natural endpoint of the tale and vaulted right past it. That’s probably what made it a bit of a slog, constant repetition of things that had been well established.
To my mind, the theme of obsession is very prevalent throughout the collection, in very different ways and most overtly in stories like ‘Sweet Escape’ and ‘Iceland’.
The title story ‘Table for One’ was a quirky look at loneliness and isolation, and the notion of people taking a course to learn how to eat on their own was simultaneously humorous and sad.
‘Sweet Escape’ ramps up the paranoia and hysteria as a man enters into a never-ending battle with bedbugs. It’s a surreal comedy that pokes fun at the fear of the unknown and the inevitable.
‘Invader Graphic’ was one of my favourite stories, partly because of the writer main character, but mainly because I could visualise the character’s day perfectly. I also liked how the book she’s writing (which we get snippets of) lines up really well with the character’s eventual realisation.
I also really enjoyed ‘Hyeonmong Park’s Hall of Dreams’, although it was one that definitely dragged on too long. Its commentary around originality and the widening of the ‘dream market’ was shrewdly done.
‘Roadkill’ was a peculiar one, boasting an eerie quality and telling the story of a man caught in a snowstorm in a seemingly ghostly motel and, essentially, spending his way into a coffin – this was well done through the notion of the rooms getting smaller and smaller.
‘Time Capsule 1994’ was one that I liked the idea of and I did appreciate the correlation of the glitched memories in the capsule and the main character’s attempts to remember her (step?) daughter. I’m not sure the blank CD really added to that allegory, it was a bit superfluous I thought.
‘Iceland’ was another of my favourite stories, focusing on a person who is deemed more suited to live in Iceland as per an internet quiz. Her obsession is fun to read and feels almost juvenile in the way that teenagers become entranced by a TV show or a band, etc. The juxtaposition of this onto changing circumstances in the workplace is well done and, in the end, bring the realism crashing back in.
As others have said, ‘Piercing’ was probably my least favourite story – it felt like a very disjointed depiction of a couple’s breakdown, complete with animal cruelty and graphic body horror content, which is just not my thing.
Finally, ‘Don’t Cry, Hongdo’ is another quirky story about a girl who wants to set her mother up with her teacher, and eat junk food which her mother has outlawed in favour of the “grass” that she feeds them instead. It’s a humorous story that very much follows the vein of ‘someone please think of the children’, as a group of mothers object to everything from junk food to people wearing hats.
All in, this is a really quirky, well written short story collection but it’s perhaps an overload of zaniness that might suit better as something to dip in and out of. The stories themselves could probably have shaved a few hundred words off to make them snappier and, thus, more digestible.
But, as I say, I didn’t really dislike any one of them and Yun Ko-eun is clearly a very talented writer. Special kudos also to translator Lizzie Buehler – without prior knowledge, I never would have guessed this was a translated work.

Thanks to Columbia University Press for the eARC of ths book in exchange for an honest review.

[mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it a little, but not a lot - nuanced stories of people who are misguidedly dealing with loneliness, anxieties, depression, insecurities, and fears through strange and deluded scenarios; vaguely adding in history and censorship

[Mabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
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Table for One - 3/5
A woman joins a course in order to learn how to eat out alone. I liked the theme, and how ridiculously seriously the concept was taken by the characters, but I felt it was a little repetitive and could've been a bit shorter.

Sweet Escape - 3.5/5
While preparing for a holiday abroad, a man starts to worry about the possibility of encountering bedbugs. His anxiety builds when an outbreak occurs in his neighbourhood. This was fairly similar to the first story, with common themes in both being loneliness and finding connection with a support group, anxiety leading to obsession, rhythm/music as metaphor.

Invader Graphics - 4/5
This was two stories in one: an author spends as much of her waking time as possible living for free at a department store, the story she is writing is about a man who is unsatisfied in his job and finds a passion for discovering a particular genre of street art.

Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams - 3.5/5
Narrated by the assistant to Hyeonmong Park, the first entrepreneur to create a business selling dreams. This story follows the rise in popularity of dream-selling and the struggles of Park's business in the face of competition.

Roadkill - 4/5
The owner of a vending machine arrives to restock, but a severe storm leaves him snowed in to the isolated motel. I loved the atmosphere of this one - the motel felt almost like a character in its own right, becoming stranger as the story goes on. It reminded me a bit of The Shining.

Time Capsule 1994 - 3/5
In Seoul, a time capsule is opened early, only 14 years after being buried, due to corrosion. I've got to admit that I didn't really understand this one - there is a second narrative about the personal life of a woman who works on restoring the capsule which I found quite engaging, but it meant that I didn't really care too much for the time capsule part of the plot.

Piercing - 4/5
A man who has separated from his wife develops a new passion for body piercings. This one contains some quite gruesome descriptions and some violent parts. I loved the twisty ending!

Don't Cry, Hongdo - 4/5
A child tries to distract her mother from an obsession with organic food and high academic expectations by trying to set her up with a new substitute teacher. Hongdo, the main character, was endearing and I enjoyed the slice-of-life feeling. The ending of this one felt very abrupt, like the author hadn't been quite sure how to wrap it up.

______________________________

Overall, while I enjoyed many of these short stories, the collection did take me a very long time to read. I enjoyed a lot of the stories' content and themes, but I didn't particularly engage with the writing style of the author as the tone and many of the characters felt quite flat.

Thank you to Columbia University Press and Netgalley for the eARC.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Table for One opens with a curious scene: a woman is dining alone.

“The woman drinks half a glass of soju for every three pork wraps, using both hands to have a quiet meal. Flipping meat with tongs, cutting it with scissors, grabbing it with chopsticks, putting it in her mouth with her hands—a typical way to eat. Even so, she feels uncomfortable, trapped by the gazes of those around her. The table, covered with one set of silver ware, is like a boxing ring. The woman sits alone and faces the fluttering stares. The curious spectators throw a left hook, a right hook—the woman’s only way to defend herself is steadfast eating.”

The woman turns out to be taking classes to feel comfortable eating alone in public. It’s that uncomfortable feeling you have too, when you do so, just … more so. The lives and reactions of the characters in this collection are mostly like this: it’s the mundane and quotidian, taken to a slightly surreal extreme.

Take the man in Sweet Escape who starts off worrying about bedbugs when he and his wife take a trip to Europe—but then he starts to feel imperilled when he gets back home and there’s an invasion in his own neighbourhood. Fortunately for his neighbours, and unfortunately for his wife, he is well-prepared. But where’s the line between a normal reaction to a threat, and obsession? Yun Ko-eun messes with the reader.

In another very cool story (my favourite), Roadkill, a salesman/vending machine operator gets caught up in a huge snowstorm, and takes refuge in a motel that grows increasingly creepy (a little like that fabled hotel in a sunny part of the US, perhaps). Most of the surrealism in the book seems to be packed into this one story. The best part is, although you can sort of see the ending coming, it’s super thrilling when it happens.

Other stories: a meta story (so many layers!) about an author, her protagonist, and invader graphics (and of course this one felt almost autobiographical); the one about the man who sells dreams, literally, until competition catches up with him; a story about a time capsule, which is possibly really about lost time and regret; Iceland, a story about escapism; one with a very unreliable narrator; and, finally, a story that perfectly captures the border between childhood and everything else.

I loved this collection, and wish I could read it again much more slowly. Yun Ko-eun has fantastic range and presents a delightfully weird perspective in her fiction, like a prism bending light and twisting reality just so. But don’t take my word for it: pick up this collection and read Roadkill first, and then enjoy all the rest on your morning commute (although the world may feel just that little bit stranger when you put the book down). Highly recommended.

Thank you to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for early access.