This summer, the KUOW Book Club read Seattle author Kim Fu's surreal story collection, "Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century." It was the winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Prize among many other accolades.

In it, Fu takes average, even mundane human experiences and makes them utterly bizarre and delightfully weird. The collection dives into modern-day anxieties, turning them into the titular monsters. It's one of book club curator Katie Campbell's favorite books she's chosen yet. So, on July 30, Campbell sat down with Fu in front of a live audience at the Seattle Public Library. We talked about the creative process, the importance of writers being true to themselves, and the inspirations behind this collection.

This is the second of three conversations the KUOW Book Club hosted in partnership with the Seattle Public Library this summer. Come back next Sunday for the third interview with Lynda V. Mapes, environmental journalist and author of "The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests."And if you need help filling that void after listening, here's another edition of Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): "Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century."

Novels and short stories by...

• Kevin Brockmeier
• Elizabeth McCracken
• Karen Russell
• George Saunders
• Yōko Ogawa
• Sayaka Murata

• Erase and Rewind by Meghan Bell
• Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
• I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
• The Vegetarian by Han Kang
• A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories

• The Devil's Plan (TV Show/Netflix)
• By Design (Film)

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at [email protected]. Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at [email protected] 

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