R.O. Kwon's "Exhibit"

Let's have some fun.

One-word titles are my catnip. In recent years, I’ve loved Nightbitch, Intimacies, Sweetbitter, Godshot, Crudo, Daughter, Sphinx, Sleepovers, Intimations—I could go on. It occurred to me recently that all these mononym novels were great opportunities for acrostic reviews, a format I’m attracted to because I find most ordinary book reviews to be—sass incoming—tedious and stuffy. Reading is a joyous activity that should prompt us to reflect joyfully—and that’s exactly what I want to do for R.O. Kwon's genius sophomore novel Exhibit. Back to kindergarten poetry writing we go.

The Gist: Jin, a photographer, has reached an impasse with her husband: he wants kids; she doesn’t. She wants to try kink; he doesn’t. At a party one night, Jin meets Lidija, an enchanting ballerina who reawakens her art and changes the course of her life and her marriage forever.

E-cstatic sentences

Each of Kwon’s sentences feels like a museum unto itself: constructed, dynamic, and intentional. On a recent episode of the Barnes and Noble podcast, Kwon shared that she edits sentences until they arrive in their most truthful form. The result? Paragraphs like this one:

“In film, much of ballet’s spirit was lost. One had to learn in person. Ballet passed through bodies, its steps etched in flesh. With each ballerina’s dying, a library fell to ruins.”

X-RAY on human sexuality

Writing about sex (and I mean real sex, not shiny, fun beach-read sex) is challenging. On the page, it can often turn slow and methodical (lips here! hands here!). The best writers have a way of conveying a lot about sex with very little language. It’s magical to behold.

Blushing, the author of this Substack post pasted the following paragraph:

“I let tight legs open. She kept talking, hand gliding in, until I wash shaking.”

H-igh brow

If the quotes above haven’t made this point painfully obvious, Exhibit is a high-brow novel. The language is quick and almost airy. Hard to grasp. I found myself reading paragraphs multiple times and mulling over what some of the stranger sentences were trying to communicate. I have a lot of patience for this game, but I understand that many people don’t find it enjoyable.