“Lin introduces a radical shift in outlook, a change from a posture of boredom to one of awe. Though his book will undoubtedly be categorized as autofiction, it is as much a retreat into the imagination as a reflection of lived events.” “At a time when so much media is set on dichotomizing, there are no hard lines drawn by Lin. “Li’s attempts to midwife the universe through mindfulness give rise to brief sunbursts of poetic exuberance.” Christine Smallwood, The New York Times Book Review There is something brave in leaving a character so undefended.” “Stylistically, the book is artful, even radical. One of Bookforum‘s Best Books of the Year Illuminating and deeply felt, as it builds toward a stunning, if unexpected, romance, Leave Society is a masterly story about life and art at the end of history. But how to fit these pieces of his life together? Where to begin? Or should he leave society altogether? Exploring everyday events and scenes–waiting rooms, dog walks, family meals–while investigatively venturing to the edges of society, where culture dissolves into mystery, Lin shows what it is to write a novel in real time. He will incite and temper arguments, uncover secrets about nature and history, and try to understand how to live a meaningful life as an artist and a son. As he flies between these two worlds–year by year, over four years–he will flit in and out of optimism, despair, loneliness, sanity, bouts of chronic pain, and drafts of a new book.
He doesn’t know it yet, but his life will begin to deepen and complexify on this trip. In 2014, a novelist named Li leaves Manhattan to visit his parents in Taipei for ten weeks. An engrossing, hopeful novel about life, fiction, and where the two blur together. From the acclaimed author of Taipei, a bold portrait of a writer working to balance all his lives-artist, son, loner -as he spins the ordinary into something monumental.
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