Superfan

SUPERFAN riveted me. I was a frog being boiled as Zhang pulled me page by page into the book’s orbit, with writing that is deceptively perceptive, yearning, and engaging all at once. SUPERFAN is not only an insightful examination of the all-encompassing natures of fandom and stardom, it’s a story about ultimately learning to feel whole. – Rachel Khong, New York Times bestselling author of Real AmericansAs catchy, appealing, and achingly tender as a boy band’s hit ballad, Superfan dazzles and captivates, while raising vital questions about fandom, celebrity, and the performance of self. Jenny Tinghui Zhang captures the complexities of emerging adulthood in all its tenuous glory. * Kirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit *Superfan was addictive and seductive. It perfectly captures the loneliness of youth, the allure of online community, and the dangers of obsession. I read it and immediately wanted to recommend it to all of my friends. * Tasha Coryell, author of Love Letters to a Serial Killer *Breathtaking and heartfelt, SUPERFAN is a cosmic collision of two fractured lives pulled into each other’s orbit through an astonishing series of events. With an eye for both the personal and the universal, Zhang reveals how the past and present versions of ourselves can never be outrun—with consequences as devastating as they are redemptive. SUPERFAN doesn’t just redefine the fan-star relationship, it explodes it from the inside out. * Elaine Hsieh Chou, author of Disorientation *

Zhang swerves from her breakout Wild West-set debut, ‘Four Treasures of the Sky,’ to a morecontemporary subject: a lonely, Chinese American college freshman in 2010s Texas who forgesan intense parasocial attachment to a K-pop-style boy band. (And those boys, as a parallelnarrative shows, are facing emotional turmoil of their own.)

Between the Taylor Swift effect, BTS fever, and the rise (and rise) of Heated Rivalry, fandomsare having a moment—making it the perfect time to dig into Jenny Tinghui Zhang’s alternatelyheartrending and thrilling new novel.

Jenny Tinghui Zhang’s compelling novel smartly explores interconnected themes of loneliness,connection, and obsessive fandom…Superfan is a touching modern coming-of-age story.

Achingly relatable…Zhang pulls at the troubled threads of what it means to be and to haveadmirers from a brightly colored quilt of internet-informed contemporary fiction… Zhangpunctuates chapters with numbered posts from that world, internet snippets convincingly riddledwith fan fiction terms and forum keywords illustrating the peculiar, at times perilous, position offans among their idols…Superfan ponders what it means to be a fangirl and decides that it’sbigger, always, than the boys themselves.

Zhang digs deep into modern fandom and the ways technology encourages fans’ parasocialrelationships in this sensitive, nuanced portrait of two misfits searching for a place tobelong…Teens will empathize with Minnie’s struggle to fit in and her experience of findingconnection and discord in online fan culture.

Equally dark and dazzling, like a spotlight flickering on a dim stage. This is a book I’ll berecommending to all my coolest friends.

Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a Chinese-American writer. She was born in Changchun, China and grew up in Austin, Texas, where she currently lives. Her debut, Four Treasures of the Sky, was a New York Times Notable Book and Editor’s Choice, and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Dublin Literary Award. Superfan is her second novel.