Books by Ed Park
Same Bed Different Dreams: A Novel
by Ed Park
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • A wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present—loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media
“Your view of twentieth-century history will be enlarged and altered. . . . A Gravity’s Rainbow for another war, an unfinished war.” —Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Public Library, Polygon, Kirkus Reviews
In 1919, far-flung patriots establish the Korean Provisional Government to protest the Japanese occupation of their country. This government-in-exile proves mostly symbolic, though, and after Japan’s defeat in World War II, the KPG dissolves and civil war erupts, resulting in the tragic North-South split that remains today.
But what if the KPG still existed—now working toward a unified Korea, secretly pulling levers to further its aims? Same Bed Different Dreams weaves together three distinct narrative voices with an archive of mysterious images, and twists reality like a kaleidoscope. Korean history, American pop culture, and our tech-fraught lives come together in this extraordinary and unforgettable novel.
Soon Sheen, a former writer now employed by the tech behemoth GLOAT, comes into possession of an unfinished book seemingly authored by the KPG. The manuscript is a riveting revisionist history, connecting famous names and obscure bit players to the KPG’s grand project—everyone from Syngman Rhee and architect-poet Yi Sang to Jack London and Marilyn Monroe. M*A*S*H is in here, too, as are the Moonies and a history of violence extending from the assassination of President McKinley to the Reagan-era downing of a passenger plane that puts the world on the brink of war.
From the acclaimed author of Personal Days, Same Bed Different Dreams is a raucously funny feat of imagination and a thrilling meld of history and fiction that pulls readers into another dimension—one in which utopia is possible.
Copies
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$30.00
An Oral History of Atlantis: Stories
by Ed Park
A deadpan, wildly imaginative collection of stories that slices clean through the mundanity and absurdity of modern life, from the author of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize–winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Same Bed Different Dreams
In “Machine City,” a college student’s role in a friend’s movie causes lines to blur between his character and his true self. In “Slide to Unlock,” a man comes to terms with his life, via the passwords he struggles to remember in a moment of extremis. And in “Weird Menace,” a director and faded moviestar discuss science fiction, memory, and lost loves on a commentary track for a film from the ’80s that neither seems to remember all that well.
In Ed Park’s utterly original collection, An Oral History of Atlantis, characters question the fleetingness of youth and art,reckon with the consequences of the everyday, and find solace in the absurd, the beautiful, and the sublime. Throughout, Park deploys his trademark wit to create a world both strikingly recognizable and delightfully other. All together, these fifteen stories have much to say about the meaning—and transitory nature—of our lives. And they are proof positive that Ed Park is one of the most insightful and imaginative writers working today.
Copies
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$28.00
Read Hard: Five Years of Great Writing from the Believer
by Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida, Ed Park
This volume collects the finest essays and articles from the four-time National Magazine Awardnominated Believer magazine. The book combines all the erudition and wit readers have come to expect from its pages: Jonathan Lethem on Nathanael West, William T. Vollmann on W. G. Sebald, Ben Ehrenreich on Brian Evenson, Paul La Farge on Dungeons & Dragons, and much, much more. It’s an essential anthology, collecting the best in creative nonfiction, the best in literary journalism, and the best writing in English from the beginning of the twenty-first century, from one of the smartest, weirdest, and funniest magazines in the country.
Copies
No copies available.
The Believer, Issue 69: February 2010
by Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida, Ed Park
Each issue of The Believer includes essays on pop culture, politics, art, and music, as well as lengthy interviews with philosophers, politicians, and poets. Nick Hornby has a widely celebrated monthly books column, and Amy Sedaris (and well-known guest-columnists) offers an advice column comprised of hilariously bad advice. The celebrated graphic novelist Charles Burns illustrates the cover each month, and the magazine is littered with illustrations by a wide range of established and emerging artists, with regulars like Tony Millionaire, Marcel Dzama, and others.
Copies
No copies available.
The Believer, Issue 78: February 2011
by Ed Park, Editors Of The Believer: Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida [editors]
The Believer is a monthly magazine where length is no object. It features long articles, interviews, and book reviews, as well as poems, comics, and a two-page vertically-oriented Schema spread, more or less unreproduceable on the web. The common thread in all these facets is that The Believer gives people and books the benefit of the doubt (the working title of this magazine was The Optimist). On each issue, Charles Burns' beautiful illustrations adorn the cover; a regular raft of writers, artists, and photographers fill the pages; and the feel of the Westcan Printing Group’s gorgeous “Roland Enviro 100 Natural” recycled acid-free heavy stock paper warms the reader's heart.
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No copies available.
Read Harder
This volume collects the finest essays from the second half of the Believer's decade-long (and counting) run. The Believer, the McSweeney's-published four-time nominee for the National Magazine Award, is beloved for tackling everything from pop culture to ancient literature with the same sagacity and wit, and this collection cements that reputation with pieces as wildly diverse as the magazine itself. Featured articles include Nick Hornby on his first job, Rebecca Taylor on her time acting in no-budget horror movies, Francisco Goldman on the failings of memoir in dealing with personal tragedy, Megan Abbott and Sara Gran on V.C. Andrews and the secret life of girls, and Brian T. Edwards on Western pop culture's influence on Iran. Read Harder collects some of the finest nonfiction writing published in America today, from the profound to the absurd, the crushing to the uplifting. As the Believer enters its second decade, Read Harder serves as both an essential primer for one of the finest, strangest magazines in the country, and an indispensable stand-alone volume.
Copies
No copies available.
The Believer Issue 143: Fall 2023
by Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida, Ed Park, Daniel Gumbiner
A twelve-time finalist for the National Magazine Awards, every issue of The Believer features commentary, deeply reported journalism, poetry, art, essays, and a difficult but ultimately highly enjoyable games section. Printed on full color, acid-free paper, the magazine has long been a home for the unexpected and the unwieldy corners of culture, a place where readers can encounter emerging talents alongside established, award-winning writers and artists. Lavishly illustrated and perfect-bound, The Believer is printed four times a year, and occasionally accompanied by a delightful bonus item, like an original 7'' record or some other equally amusing object.
Copies
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$16.00
Copies
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$16.00
The Believer Issue 148: Winter 2024/2025
by Heidi Julavits, Vendela Vida, Ed Park, Daniel Gumbiner
In The Believer's 2024 Art Issue: Pepper Stetler reports from an art center for adults with intellectual disabilities that sees both creativity and work as fundamental human rights; Ross Simonini considers the immortal power of artistic persona; Nicole Lavelle profiles ceramicist Win Ng, cofounder of one of America's first ever lifestyle brands; and, in an epistolary essay, Hilton Als writes about painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's inimitable use of color. We also have interviews with Annie Leibovitz, An-My Lê, Martine Syms, performance artist Michael Smith, and legendary muralist Judy Baca, plus a schema on Black models in Western art by Zaria Ware.
In our columns section, you'll find Nick Hornby's art-themed reading list, Chelsea Ryoko Wong's daily routine, Monica Datta's resurrection of Black Square by Kazimir Malevich, and Carrie Brownstein's advice to a pet portraitist. On top of all that, and in honor of this special themed issue, every copy comes with a handily detachable, many-paged gift guide, featuring recommendations from artists, such as Marcel Dzama, Rebecca Morgan, Micah Lexier, Clare Rojas, and more. Gift ideas include, but are not limited to, knives, pens, jam jars, holy wafers, tape dispensers, chocolate with pistachios, and industrial pancake makers.
Copies
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$16.00