'The Dead Do Not Improve': 2012's Novel to Anticipate
Um! Enthusiasts of the work of Jay Kang (this and this) will be interested in this: “Crown’s Lindsay Sagnette made a six-figure pre-empt for North American rights to a debut novel by Columbia M.F.A. Jay Kang. Sterling Lord’s Jim Rutman sold The Dead Do Not Improve, which the publisher is comparing to works by Junot Díaz and Gary Shteyngart. The novel follows a frustrated young writer with an M.F.A. who becomes the focus of a “violent scheme,” per the publisher, after his neighbor is murdered. Crown said the book follows the protagonist as he wanders through ‘a suddenly menacing, unknowable San Francisco, fending off militant surfers, overpopulated quinoa cafes, and aggressive advanced creative writing students.’”