Magic City Books is proud to welcome author Tom Pyun for a free, in-store event to celebrate the publication of his debut novel, Something Close to Nothing, on Tuesday December 3 at 7:00 pm.Tom will be joined in conversation by Karl Jones, alumnus-in-residence from the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
Tom Pyun didn’t begin writing creatively until the age of thirty-five. He studied sociology at Vassar College and public health epidemiology at Columbia University. After an almost two-decade-long career in the philanthropic, nonprofit, and governmental sectors, he has finally accepted his calling as a storyteller, artist, and healer.
Tom’s debut novel, Something Close to Nothing has been “A bold, outrageous, and often hilarious exploration of growing up while facing the ever-changing nature of queer identity and what it takes to feel alive.” –Steven Rowley, Thurber Prize-winning author of The Guncle
Something Close to Nothing will be published by Bywater Books on November 12. You can reserve a copy in store or if you are unable to attend the event, you can order a copy to be signed by Tom at: https://magiccitybooks.square.site/product/something-close-to-nothing/2986
About Something Close to Nothing
First comes surrogacy, then comes the messy gay breakup in Tom Pyun’s tragi-comic debut novel that asks, is it ever too late to finally face yourself and grow up?
Winston Kang and Jared Cahill seem like the perfect couple. When they check in for their flight to Cambodia, where they’re headed to meet the surrogate carrying their baby girl, even the woman at the airline counter recognizes it: “I’m so happy that marriage is legal for you guys,” she says.
But while Jared is already planning for their second kid–half white like him, half Korean like Wynn–Wynn isn’t ready to give up his dreams of becoming a hip-hop dancer to become “the hostage of a crying, pooping terrorist.” So he does what anyone in his position would do: He leaves Jared at the airport.
Wynn sets off on a journey around the globe, trying to figure out what it means to put himself first, from auditioning for Misty Espinoza’s comeback tour to organizing a Prince-themed flash mob. Oceans away, Jared starts to panic that no one in his life can talk to Meryl about her period or what it’s like to grow up Asian American.
Told in alternating points of view, Pyun’s sardonic and addictive page-turner confronts questions of race, identity, and privilege, pulling at the loose threads of the American Dream and facing the question of whether it’s ever too late to finally face yourself and grow up.
Tom Pyun earned his MFA at Antioch University Los Angeles and has been awarded fellowships by the Vermont Studio Center, VONA, and Tin House. His creative fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Rumpus, Reed Magazine, Joyland, and Blue Mesa Review. His essay, “Mothers Always Know,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net 2015.
Event Venue
Magic City Books, 221 E. Archer St.,Tulsa,OK,United States
