King of Joy

by Richard Chiem

Overview

Named a Writer to Watch by the Los Angeles Times, Richard Chiem brings readers a novel that is equal parts sledgehammer and sweet song—a neon, pulsing portrait of grief, and an electrifying story of one woman's survival against all odds.

Corvus has always had an overactive imagination. Growing up, she develops a unique coping mechanism: she can imagine herself out of any situation, no matter how terrible. To get through each day, Corvus escapes into scenes from fantasy novels, pop songs, and action/adventure movies, and survives by turning the everyday into just another role to play in the movie of her life.

After a tragic loss, Corvus finds a sadness so great she cannot imagine it away. Instead, she finds Tim, a pornographer with unconventional methods, who offers her a new way to escape into movies. But when a sinister plot of greed and betrayal is revealed, Corvus must fight to reclaim her independence, and discovers she is stronger than even she could have imagined.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593763091
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.56(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Richard Chiem is the author of ​You Private Person, which was named one of Publishers Weekly​’s 10 Essential Books of the American West. His work has been published in ​City Arts, ​Vol. 1 Brooklyn​, ​Fanzine​, ​3:AM Magazine​, and ​Moss​, among many other venues. He has taught at Hugo House and at the University of Washington Bothell. He lives in Seattle.

Editorial Reviews

•  Five-city author tour (Iowa City, IA; Los Angeles; New York; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA)
   •  Tour launch event on March 5, 2019 at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, WA
   •  Author event on March 7, 2019 at Powell's on Hawthorne in Portland, OR
   •  Author event on March 11, 2019 at Franklin Park Bar and Beer Garden in Brooklyn, NY
   •  Author event on March 12, 2019 at McNally Jackson in New York, NY
   •  Author event on March 14, 2019 at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, CA
   •  Author event on March 19, 2019 at Green Apple Books on the Park in San Francisco, CA
   •  Author event on April 2, 2019 at Third Place Books Ravenna in Seattle, WA
   •  Author event on April 4, 2019 at King's Books in Tacoma, WA
   •  Potential author appearance at Los Angeles Times Book Festival

From the Publisher

2018-12-11

A young woman suffering from grief beyond measure pours her suffering into a job as an adult-film actress.

After cresting the wave between short stories and a novel in his first book, Chiem (You Private Person, 2017) delivers a proper novel here, albeit one that uses shifts in time, hallucinatory wordplay, and a deeply wounded protagonist to strange effect. When we meet the main character, Corvus, she's at some kind of Burning Man-lite event in the California desert, watching things burn: "What am I doing here? There's a fucking tree on fire and no one is doing shit." Her defining character trait is present from the start: "Grief is an out-of-body thing, the worst secret you can have," Chiem writes. "You live in one terrible place trapped inside your head while your body lives in another terrible place entirely." The novel takes its time divulging Corvus' tragedy and in the meantime hooks her up with a pornographer named Tim and a shady studio where she forms a bond with another actress named Amber. When Tim decides to profit from the popularity of sexual-abuse porn, he savagely attacks Amber, who escapes and runs off with Corvus. In the second of three sections, Chiem reveals his main character's largely stoned but idyllic former life, working in a movie theater and meeting the boyish playwright who would become her husband. Like the song says, the scene ends badly, as you might imagine. Back on the run, Corvus and Amber seek out Tim's video distributor, a spooky diva who lives in a remote mansion surrounded by, of all things, wild hippos and filled with enough champagne and pharmaceuticals for anyone to reach liftoff. Chiem can't stick the landing—his denouement is abrupt, incongruous, and garish—but it's still a remarkable portrayal of restless youth, made sweeter by the author's crisp, spare prose and a thoughtful portrayal of a woman who lost her way.

Just another sad chapter in life's rich tragedy.

Kirkus Reviews