Docile

“Docile is the rarest of things: a scorchingly honest, beautiful, hugely evocative memoir that’s also a proper pageturner: I read it breathlessly in a single sitting, transported and deeply moved. It’s at one and the same time the story of a life and a meditation on identity, family, trauma, illness, and the nature of love, art, and success. It’s wonderful.” – Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H is for Hawk

“A revelation, a celebration of resilience, and a testament to the power of art to heal and transform. Docile has left an indelible mark on me.” – Chloé Cooper Jones, two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and author of Easy Beauty

“A savagely beautiful memoir. Skillfully crafted and achingly heartfelt, Docile creates worlds through richly-observed details, told with a powerful narrative drive. Eloquent, often funny, and always unflinchingly honest, Song has created a Portrait of the Artist as a Young AAPI Woman which will be read and cherished for generations to come.” – David Henry Hwang, author of M. Butterfly

“A work of extraordinary tenderness and depth, Docile chronicles an immigrant family’s dreams, losses, and love through Hyeseung Song’s clear-eyed and poetic storytelling. Ultimately a book about the call of art, the bane of mental illness, and inheritances both welcome and not, Docile offers a gorgeous glimpse of one seeker’s earnest journey toward selfhood.” – Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch

“This book sliced my heart. A portal into a relentless artist’s path, and how damaging the burden of love and sacrifice can be. An immigrant story and an artist’s story; a mental illness story and a divorce story; Song writes of gasping for air while drowning, and then finally making it to shore.” – Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face

“This beautiful, brutal coming-of-age tale enthralled me from start to finish. Few writers have captured the terror and wonder of childhood with Song’s precision and intellect. I loved this book and will never, ever stop thinking about it.” – Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year

“Song takes us on an intimate journey through the rich inner life of a brilliant young woman whose gifts are tethered to her self-worth, and in so doing, she invites us to ask difficult questions: What is the debt we owe to others for our own lives? What is the cost of carrying that debt? And how do we ultimately break free? Docile is a first-hand account of struggling with mental illness and a profound and poetic meditation on the value of living.” – Grace M. Cho, author of Tastes Like War

“Filled with unwavering grace, Docile is a story of loneliness and searching that brims with radiant empathy. Song leaves readers with a bold assertion: that we must become who we are meant to be, no matter the cost.”– Kat Chow, author of Seeing Ghosts

“Docile left me open mouthed and gaping in wonder–Hyeseung Song fearlessly plumbs so many varied topics from Asian mothers to mental health to relationships to creativity. Her words become pointillist brushstrokes that layer complexity and nuance to create an indelible tapestry filled with people I will never forget–most of all, herself.” – Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of The Evening Hero

“Always elegant and clearly written…a very heartfelt, intensely personal, and moving story of boredom, depression, suffering, and striving to reach eventual self-realization.” – New York Journal of Books

“Choosing to live requires a crucial journey to discovering her true, unadorned self. Song’s literary self-portrait is formidable testimony to claiming her powerful artistry.” – Booklist

Hyeseung Song is a first-generation Korean American writer and painter. She lives in Brooklyn and upstate New York.