Your Utopia

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by The Millions, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Book Riot, and Marie Claire. 

"Best Books this Week" on Shelf Awareness 

Included in This Week's (3/21/24) Editors' Choice of the "7 New Books We Recommend This Week" by New York Times Book Review

“Bora Chung’s stories glisten at the border of our weird world, and all our other weird worlds. A truly sublime book.”

“Chung builds out her stories with imagination, absurdity and a dry sense of humor, all applied with X-Acto knife precision”

“Chung has crafted another weird and surprising story collection…Central to the collection is an exploration of loneliness and isolation, but Chung is far too complex a writer to simply blame technology for these shortcomings… She plays with our expectations of the future, experiments with the possibilities of what could be, and sprinkles in elements from other genres to keep the stories fresh.”

"[An] impressive second collection... Through the prism of her singular imagination, Chung looks sharply at the ways the world we’ve made doesn’t suit us...These are stories to sit with, to read one at a time and savor.”

"Unexpected, funny, thrillingly original. These stories will stick with me."

“Bora Chung has proven once again that she is an undeniable maestro of the uncanny, grotesque, and posthuman. Only a consummate speculative allegorist could write a collection that functions as so haunting a mirror of our modern world, reminding us all the while that the politely deranged cannibals and lovesick AIs and beleaguered alien wives we see reflected in that mirror are really just versions of ourselves.”

“Imagining a utopia and mourning when it falls short are the first steps toward creating a better world. A big job for fiction; Chung’s up to the task. The imagined worlds here may not be utopian—but the reading experience is.”

“This is another fantastic collection...that combines big topics such as technology, human absurdity, and mortality. And [Chung] does it in the most amazing ways.”

“Such a fun collection of short stories infused with speculative tendencies, Slavic literary traditions, and extremely relatable pandemic-era fears.”

“Hur returns as Chung’s brilliant Korean-to-English cipher for eight more enigmatically irresistible stories… Chung’s electrifying author’s note offers provenance for many of her stories and an empathic invitation to progress 'toward a better world for both you and me.'” *STARRED REVIEW*

“A gut-punch reminder of our own humanity or lack thereof. It urges readers not only to be kinder, but also to be wide-eyed about the technological world around them. This is a book to slip into your friend’s hand with a knowing nod and a wordless 'trust me' implied.”​

“Uncanny atmospheres and heartfelt human insights strike an unlikely balance… Chung lingers tenderly with the emotional depths of her stories, which arise almost unexpectedly as her characters navigate surreal, speculative, and often mundanely horrifying horizons.”

"Chung’s distinctive imagination remains delightfully compelling... Chung’s stories eschew techno-pessimism and suggest that empathy and heart are what is missing from discussions about technology’s role in our future."

“If you are looking for stories that are reminiscent of 'Black Mirror' or that peek into the unknown, surrounding, burgeoning AI and make one generally question what it means to be human, then Your Utopia is for you."

"Bora Chung is a writer rich in ideas with an impressive power of controlled narration and tone. Everything is thoughtful and quiet, even amid horrifying details." 

"Your Utopia deftly interrogates what it means to be human."

“Fans of Korean author Bora Chung’s strangely fantastic and weirdly dystopian—sometimes horrific—tales are in for a treat…Your Utopia will leave readers uncomfortable yet yearning for more. Thought-provoking and bound to take readers through a wild ride of emotions and experiences.”