Quirky characters and relatable stories focusing around single individuals in a world that more often seems built for two. I enjoyed these stories and gleaning different perspectives of each unique character - I especially enjoyed the story around the group of individuals learning to eat alone in a restaurant without awkwardness.

Thanks very much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of Table for One. I wasn't sure what to expect as I was unfamiliar with the author's work before reading this collection, but I loved these incredibly imaginative and quirky short stories. I'll definitely check out more of Yun Ko-eun's writing in the future.

An unusual, eclectic mixed bag of short and surreal short stories. Well written but I found them a difficult and slow read.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
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Table for One - 3/5
A woman joins a course in order to learn how to eat out alone. I liked the theme, and how ridiculously seriously the concept was taken by the characters, but I felt it was a little repetitive and could've been a bit shorter.

Sweet Escape - 3.5/5
While preparing for a holiday abroad, a man starts to worry about the possibility of encountering bedbugs. His anxiety builds when an outbreak occurs in his neighbourhood. This was fairly similar to the first story, with common themes in both being loneliness and finding connection with a support group, anxiety leading to obsession, rhythm/music as metaphor.

Invader Graphics - 4/5
This was two stories in one: an author spends as much of her waking time as possible living for free at a department store, the story she is writing is about a man who is unsatisfied in his job and finds a passion for discovering a particular genre of street art.

Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams - 3.5/5
Narrated by the assistant to Hyeonmong Park, the first entrepreneur to create a business selling dreams. This story follows the rise in popularity of dream-selling and the struggles of Park's business in the face of competition.

Roadkill - 4/5
The owner of a vending machine arrives to restock, but a severe storm leaves him snowed in to the isolated motel. I loved the atmosphere of this one - the motel felt almost like a character in its own right, becoming stranger as the story goes on. It reminded me a bit of The Shining.

Time Capsule 1994 - 3/5
In Seoul, a time capsule is opened early, only 14 years after being buried, due to corrosion. I've got to admit that I didn't really understand this one - there is a second narrative about the personal life of a woman who works on restoring the capsule which I found quite engaging, but it meant that I didn't really care too much for the time capsule part of the plot.

Piercing - 4/5
A man who has separated from his wife develops a new passion for body piercings. This one contains some quite gruesome descriptions and some violent parts. I loved the twisty ending!

Don't Cry, Hongdo - 4/5
A child tries to distract her mother from an obsession with organic food and high academic expectations by trying to set her up with a new substitute teacher. Hongdo, the main character, was endearing and I enjoyed the slice-of-life feeling. The ending of this one felt very abrupt, like the author hadn't been quite sure how to wrap it up.

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Overall, while I enjoyed many of these short stories, the collection did take me a very long time to read. I enjoyed a lot of the stories' content and themes, but I didn't particularly engage with the writing style of the author as the tone and many of the characters felt quite flat.

Disappointing after a promising start. I felt these stories needed a good edit to make them less long winded and, ultimately rather tedious. I liked the surreal elements and the quirkiness of the writing but overall they were not engaging enough. I wouldn't recommend them.

4.5 stars.
Table for One is one of the best short story collections that I have read in 2024, if not ever.
Dining alone, bed bugs, extreme weather conditions are some of the themes and topics that feature in these 9 stories, all of which are if various styles and genres.
The prose, the incorporation and twisting of the every day and the unexpected, and the magical realism were wonderful. I will revisit this book and read more by the author. Kudos to the translator too.

This was a lovely little collection of surrealist stories that have a lot to say about society and important issues without being too preachy.

I really enjoyed the style of writing and found the stories to be the perfect length for dipping in and out at my leisure.

I think this is perfect for lovers of Murakami, Kafka and Ishiguro.

From the author of 'The Disaster Tourist', a book I loved when it was published a few years ago, comes this quirky and engaging collection of short stories. A definite must for fans of the slightly peculiar, although for me it was a bit hit and miss, as is so often the way with short story collections.

Strong point for me were: the title story, about the issues and problems of eating out alone; 'Iceland', in which a man joins an online chat group about the country; and 'Sweet Escape', about losing a job, feeling isolated and getting involved with bedbugs (!).

Slightly surreal, these stories develop into a world that is off-kilter. Think Murakami, via Kafka, with a modern Korean twist.

Some good, some ok, but this collection is definitely well worth delving into. An author that is one that I will be sure to follow, and I can't wait to see what comes next!

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

Lavish. Peculiar. “Table for One” by Yun Ko-Eun is a series of short stories based on off-the-wall scenarios.

From writing a novel on the rolls of a department store restroom toilet paper, to volunteering as a human bedbug trap, the stories explore unusual circumstances. Many focus on absurd business ideas like selling dreams and overseeing party supply vending machines.

I had trouble staying engaged for parts of this but love the author’s bravery in tackling unique ideas. Thanks @columbiauniversitypress for the ARC on @netgalley!

I found it a mixed bag. I really liked the first story - dinner for one and also I enjoyed Iceland. The other stories were ok but didn’t capture my attention so much.

Table for One: Stories by Yun Ko-eun is an intriguing enough short story collection and i did appreciate how the author incorporates surreal elements in her social commentary

3/5

Table for One is a short story collection filled with nine stories that are each unique and strange, not only with the characters, but the settings. It explored loneliness and societal expectations in South Korean culture. An interesting piece of translated fiction that toes the line between realism and the fantastic, with some general fiction mixed in. Throughout each story, themes of hopelessness and loneliness are interwoven with comedy. A melancholy commentary on densely packed urban life, rapid industrialization, and the displacement of traditional culture.

“But I don’t check expiration dates anymore. I know that I’ve already passed the expiration for my former daily life. I’m decaying, out of orbit from my past sense of normalcy.”

Table for One was a mix of stories that I really liked and stories that I either skimmed through or DNF’d. I liked their stories that were more lit-fic compared to the more surreal/sci-fi stories. I felt like they were a bit stronger. Some of my favorite stories included a woman learning to enjoy eating alone, a man getting stranded at a hotel during a blizzard and having to pay for cheaper and cheaper rooms that keep getting smaller, a woman finding a blank CD in a time capsule that was taken out of the ground too soon, and a man becoming obsessed with Iceland because an online test told him it was his “perfect” country based on his character. I’m between a 3 and a 3.5, but if I were to average my ratings for each story, my final rating would be closer to a 3.

Table for one is an interesting mix of short stories concerned with modern life in Korea. They are quirky, often slightly off beat and unashamedly following their characters onto weird paths. I am thankful for receiving a review copy via Netgalley, but found myself left a bit cold.

All of these characters are completly obsessive about something. They flee their lifes by concentrating on bugs, dreams, invaders... whatever. But while I often found it interesting in the beginning, these stories stayed out their welcome. The point - at least the point I got - was hammered home. Over and over. Not sure there was more than one point at all. These stories were, at the same time, too weird and not weird enough. Yet, of course, I had favorites as well as stories I just wanted to end.


I really liked:

Invader Graphic Is about a finance guy who slipps further and further into his fascination with invader graphics popping up all over the world, until he can think about nothing else. It is equally about the woman who, living from free products in a shopping mall, makes him up.

Piercing is a story about... well, infected piercings, loss, and insanity.

Don't Cry, Hongdo concentrates on a child narrator, whose mother it waging a war against unhealthy foods, people with hats and other dangers to society.

I kinda liked, but was not completely convinced by:

Table for One. Here, a woman takes a course to learn how to eat alone in restaurants, thereby finding that she actually just wanted to find other people who do not want to eat alone. Interesting concept, but it dragged on and seemed very... artificial.

Sweet Escape is about a guy preparing for his first great overseas adventure with his wife, who, while preparing for its, becomes preoccupied with Bedbugs. His fixation with the little buggers is shared by his flat and becomes more and more debilitating.

Iceland follows a person who becomes convinced that Iceland is the perfect country for them. They get together with other Iceland-aficinados, and yet ever quite seem to be able to leave their Korean lifes.


I really disliked:

Hyeonmong Park's Hall of Dreams is ridiculous, a very long story about a guy selling dreams he dreams for people (weird) who loses the ability to dream (also weird.)

Roadkill is the tale of a vending machine guy caught at a motel, unable to escape.

Time Capsule 1994 is telling us about a prematurly dug up time capsule, and something that should not be in it.

All in all, I am not angry to have read this collection, but it has left suprising little impact on me.

Table for One (4 stars)
We start the story with a person eating a meal alone. It took me a very long time to wander into an eatery by myself and have a meal. I have done it a few times in the years since I first tried it, and I always (Always!) have a book with me for company. I have never tried the actions discussed in this story, but I can see how a course to train people to eat alone in restaurants would be something that would work. It’s a simple premise deftly executed.

Sweet Escape (3 stars)
I liked this story even if I felt it was a little too long. If it had been shorter, I would have definitely rated it higher. A man is planning a trip, and he has free time. This leads him into researching bedbugs, among other things, and the chaos does not end with just one man’s obsession.

Invader Graphic (4 stars)
This plot begins innocuously, with our protagonist wanting to avoid her parents and write. We have a list of all the small ways she not only saves money but also earns in free goods as she spends her day in the mall among a few other places. It feels good until she has competition.


Hyeonmong Park’s Hall of Dreams(4 stars)
I was not sure what I’d think of this story when I started it. It’s an odd concept but I’m this day and age of social media, one that would work well. It’s a man who dreams dreams for others. The market is not saturated when the plot begins but people start to catch on to the idea itself and things change quite quickly. The concept itself would make a good talking point in a book club.


Roadkill (3 stars)
Although there are morals that can be got out of this story, it took its time getting there. A man walks into a motel to do his job but ends up stuck in a never ending loop that gets increasingly tough to deal with.


Time Capsule 1994 (2 stars)
I didn’t get this plot. There’s a blank cd which was not catalogued when a time capsule was sealed and this leads to some head scratching.


Iceland (5 stars)
This was my favourite story in the book. A man matches with Iceland better than his own country online. This leads him to join a fan club of sorts which discusses all about Iceland. The kind of people he meets ( and becomes) was fascinating to me for some strange reason.


Piercing ( 2 stars)
A couple who aren’t good for each other turn out to be worse for others!


Don’t Cry, Hongdo (4 stars)
Although I probably would come under the crowd if mothers in this story who try to force organic and better snacks for the children in and around school, I couldn’t but enjoy the way the story unfolded. A child is narrating her life in school with a mother who is very health conscious and single, both of which she wants to do something about.

Some of the stories could have been shorter, but on the whole it was a satisfying collection. I had not realised when I started this book that I’d read another of the author’s works before – The Disaster Tourist. That book was odd and interesting just like this one. It’s hard to place this collection under any particular genre but it is one I would highly recommend to people who like short stories.

The translation was seamless, I did not feel like I was reading a book written originally in a different language at any point!

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

As with all short story collections there were ones I really enjoyed and ones I didn't vibe with. I really like the story of the woman using the freebies at the mall only to have her system destroyed and the story about selling dreams. Translated works can sometimes feel choppy but I felt like this was smooth and surreal.

A short story anthology that talks about society and human isolation. Some are very interesting and some are a bit boring (according to my taste/mood).
All are well written and well translated.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Table for One - Yun Ko-eun
I found Table for One to be a really enjoyeable read. It is a collection of nine short stories that range from taking classes that teach you how to eat alone to a time capsule being dug up before it‘s time.
I enjoyed how varied the stories were, and how unique the ideas behind them were. I did find the stories to be a little too long for me and found that they began to drag a little in the middle. I do prefer short stories that are significantly shorter. Although, the writing did keep me going, I found it very engaging and thought that it flowed really well.
I think you would enjoy this book if, like me, you enjoy reading in depth analysis of the smaller things in life. Also a great read if you enjoy strange stories and translated fiction.

this book of short stories unfortunately wasn’t my cup of tea. Whilst I really enjoyed the first story ‘table for one’, I lost quite a bit of interest for the following 8 stories and found myself wanting to skip parts. Although I struggled, I do think this is a very good debut, and is translated exceptionally well.

Table for One is a collection of short stories with dark humor and introspective take. It explores societal pressures, the search for meaning, and the modern loneliness.

Some of the stories were a miss for me but the others are 'strange' fun read!

Thank you to Columbia University Press for the early access!

Table for One is a book that's as weird as it is funny, with nine stories that take you on a wild ride through some really strange places. Yun Ko-eun has a knack for turning everyday scenarios into something completely out there, which makes the book engaging but also a bit of a mixed bag.

The stories range from a woman learning to enjoy eating alone to a guy dealing with a bedbug nightmare, and even a character who wears other people's pajamas to dream their dreams. It's not your typical collection of stories, and while some of them hit the mark and made me think, others were just too out there or fell flat.

Overall, if you like your books to be a bit quirky and don't mind a bit of absurdity, you might get a kick out of this. But if you prefer something a bit more straightforward, this might not be for you.