THE DEAD DO NOT IMPROVE by Jay Caspian Kang
The lives of a detective and an under-employed
Korean-American intersect when a woman is murdered in Jay Caspian Kang's novel The Dead Do Not Improve.
Philip Kim, a first-generation Korean-American, sleeps through
the murder of his neighbor, Dolores Stone. He never knew her name until after
the fact, just always called her the "Baby Molester," a name bestowed
on her by Kathleen, the girl Philip followed to San Francisco and hasn’t talked
to in a year.
Philip often sleeps late and just as often is late to his
job, working for a social network that targets men who have been dumped.
(getoverit.com). He is responsible for greeting the new accounts and sending
them chatty emails every so often. For this he’s encouraged to use the named "Philip
Davis" because research has convinced his boss that no one trusts Asians
when it comes to relationship advice.
The man investigating the murder is Sid (short for
Siddhartha) Finch, and he's more interested in saving his marriage to Sarah than
in solving the crime which is, as is often the case, a gateway murder that
leads to a much larger problem.
The dual stories are both interesting and the worlds of
Finch and Philip are populated by extremely good characters. Philip's internal
monologues often have to do with Korean identity and there's a running motif
about the Korean-American school shooter at Virginia Tech.
Some of the dialogue is absolutely hilarious, particularly
the interactions between Sid and the waitresses at a restaurant called Being
Abundance, where everyone seems to have a reddish glow. There’s also a scene at
a vintage clothing store where Philip and a neighbor suit up for Dolores’
bizarre funeral that seems incredibly and indelibly San Francisco.
