Description "Though it may be a life beyond imagining, tell me that it is still a life." The story of one man's life that captivated readers around the world ★ 2015 Man Booker Prize & National Book Award Finalist ★ Winner of the Kirkus Prize ★ Named a "Book of the Year" by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Guardian, The Economist, and 25 other publications About the Book A thousand pages of overwhelming, storm-like narrative — the most talked-about book of the 2015 Man Booker Prize "The best way to describe this novel is with the overused phrase: you simply cannot put it down. No description could be more fitting for a book that frightens and unsettles readers even as it utterly captivates them." — Kirkus Prize Committee A Little Life, a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award — two of the most prestigious literary awards in the English-speaking world — and named a "Book of the Year" by 25 publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal, has now been published in Korean. Even before its nomination for major British and American literary prizes, the novel had already spread by word of mouth among readers, who shared reviews like "I read it in one sitting through the night," "This is the first thousand-page novel I wished were even longer," "I had to stop reading several times because I was crying," "Shocking and heartbreaking," and "I dreamed about this novel every night while reading it." After its Man Booker nomination, the book received an outpouring of support from readers, with an unusual wave of encouraging comments appearing on its website. A Little Life tells the story of Jude, a secretive man carrying deep trauma from horrific childhood abuse and violence. Because of its unflinching and provocative subject matter, it also became one of the most controversial books among the judges. Remarkably for a contemporary novel, summaries and reading guides have been published for it; more than 40,000 readers on Goodreads have given it a rating of four stars or higher; and actress Rooney Mara of Carol fame has named it among her recommended reads. Even more than a year after publication, it continues to resonate deeply with readers. "A novel that dares to face the darkness of life" The story of one man's life that captivated readers around the world "In the trash bag were eggshells, wilted lettuce, spoiled spaghetti — and you." — from the book Four college friends — Willem, Malcolm, JB, and Jude — each set out to build their lives in New York City, chasing their own dreams. Willem becomes an actor, Malcolm an architect, JB a painter, and Jude, the novel's protagonist, a lawyer with a painful, secret past. Despite his good looks and brilliant mind, Jude has been guarded and lacking in self-worth since college, yet his friends love and accept him exactly as he is. They know little about him — why he limps, why his arms and back are constantly scarred, what his childhood was like, or whether he has any family — but they never ask, sensing how much it troubles him. In truth, Jude was abandoned in a trash bag at birth and suffered horrific abuse while growing up in a monastery. At age nine, he escaped with the help of a monk, only to find that the outside world was even more brutal than the one he had left behind. In his late teens, with the help of a social worker, he was finally able to attend college — and from that point on, it was as though "life itself were begging his forgiveness," opening up an existence entirely different from his tormented past. Surrounded by friends who love him, Jude finds himself facing an almost unbelievable happiness. But the greater this happiness grows — happiness he has never quite believed belongs to him — the more vividly his past resurfaces to mock and condemn his present self. The wider the gap between his past suffering and present joy, the harder it becomes for him to bear his own life. How far does the hell of a life extend, and how far its happiness? A Little Life portrays a man who tried to rise above the injustice of the life he was given, a man who had to destroy himself in order to survive — confronting the pain of existence head-on, without offering even a thread of easy hope. Hanya Yanagihara: A Writer Who Defies Expectation and Challenges the World "I wanted to capture all of life's pain, terror, and love within the stories of these four men." — Hanya Yanagihara Hailed by critics as "a brutal masterpiece," A Little Life holds its readers until the very last page...