{"product_id":"the-minimalist","title":"The Minimalist","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A highly original, excruciatingly discomfiting tale about a young composer's descent into madness... Readers will feel the obsessive horror of this tightly wound novel throughout their bodies.\" --\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Like the minimalist compositions that made Ryder famous, this disturbing exploration of identity, genius, and madness will not appeal to everyone, but it rewards close attention and resonates long after striking its final chord. Strong-nerved readers will be intoxicated.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"I could write that the heady and harrowing \n\u003ci\u003eThe Minimalist\u003c\/i\u003e is a gothic meditation on the personal and intrapersonal wages and politics of artistic obsession and ambition, equal parts hallucinatory fever dream, bildungsroman, and social critique. I could also write that Kailee Pedersen and her mesmerizing \n\u003ci\u003eThe Minimalist\u003c\/i\u003e doesn't f*ck around.\" --Paul Tremblay, \n\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \n\u003ci\u003eHorror Movie\u003c\/i\u003e and \n\u003ci\u003eA Head Full of Ghosts \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Kailee Pedersen is the Bach of the macabre. \n\u003ci\u003eThe Minimalist\u003c\/i\u003e is an absolutely haunting chamber piece of psychological horror, an aural gothic tuned to obsessive perfection, where every note climbs up your spine and crescendos in your head. You can nearly hear her chilling symphony rise up from the page.\" --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of \n\u003ci\u003eWake Up and Open Your Eyes\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Written with a sinister, Nabokovian sumptuousness, this gothic tale of music, doomed love and madness only further cements Kailee Pedersen as one of the best and most original writers of her generation. \" --Dan Chaon, author of \n\u003ci\u003eOne of Us \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A memorable mix of stylistic verve, high drama, insider knowledge, and imaginative power.\" --Alex Landragin, author of \n\u003ci\u003eCrossings\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e: \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An unremittingly gloomy and oppressive story that will haunt you for days... [ \n\u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e] establishes Pedersen as a future master of speculative fiction.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A contemplatively paced supernatural horror tale, centering family, trauma, and revenge, with unease infused into every detail...[Readers] will be left gasping in awe. Pedersen's debut skillfully balances character and atmosphere.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This incantatory debut builds menace from its opening phrase. The author is merciless.... An assured and bloody fable heralds the arrival of a gifted new voice.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Literary horror that isn't afraid to show its teeth. Pedersen is sure to win fans.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A slow burning horror story...Pedersen provides a brilliant and unforgiving commentary on toxic masculinity and racism.\" --Booklist \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A genre mashup of Chinese mythology, supernatural horror, thriller, and Midwestern family drama, \n\u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e is a breathtaking upending of the American family saga.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Savage in its details and saturated with dread.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, The Best Horror Books of 2024 \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A remarkable debut, a striking blend of American frontier stoicism and Chinese folklore.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e, Best Horror Books of 2024 \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Dark and bone-chillingly bloody... \n\u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e is remarkable in its keen barbarism... The novel's final pages are a wild frenzy of beauty, vengeance and viscera.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eLA Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Tense, lush, and laced with beautifully engineered dread, [ \n\u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e] is a special book, one that horror fans everywhere should pick up as soon as possible, because you don't want to miss a moment of what this author has got to show you.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003ePaste Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKAILEE PEDERSEN writes haunted, unsettling speculative fiction. She graduated with a BA in classics from Columbia University, specializing in ancient Greek. Kailee was adopted from Nanning, China and grew up in Nebraska, where her family owns a farm. She is the author of the queer poetry chapbook \n\u003ci\u003ePastorale\u003c\/i\u003e and the novel \n\u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e, which was named one of the New York Public Library's Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for Best Horror at the 2025 Libby Book Awards. When not scribbling down her next book, you can catch her studying opera performance at the Mozarteum University, playing video games, or working as a software engineer in New York City. \n\u003ci\u003e The Minimalist\u003c\/i\u003e is her second novel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor fans of \u003ci\u003eTár\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Piano Teacher\u003c\/i\u003e, this gruesome and unsettling psychological drama is a darkly lucid portrait of a classical composer's descent into madness.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs the last and greatest student of famed minimalist composer Ryder Wakefield, Mia Voss's rise to prominence in the insular world of classical music has long been assured. When Ryder dies unexpectedly, she inherits everything--including the unfinished manuscript of his final composition, the mysterious \n\u003ci\u003eDeath Fugue: Music for Orchestra\u003c\/i\u003e. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHaunted by memories of her tragic romance with Ryder's late son, Oliver--like Mia, an Asian American adoptee--Mia leaves her girlfriend behind and returns to Ryder's home to finish his last work. There, Mia is forced to confront her complex relationship with Ryder, who hid his Jewish and gay identities to become one of the most important twentieth-century American composers; her lingering guilt over Oliver's suicide; and her own musical ambition as the manuscript begins to exert a disturbing, mesmerizing hold over her. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawn from the author's own experiences as an adoptee and classical musician, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Minimalist\u003c\/i\u003e is a harrowing examination of loss, torment, mental illness, self-harm, and artistic self-destruction. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/13\/2026 (EAN 9781250328274, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/01\/2026 pg. 69 (EAN 9781250328274, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003ePedersen, Kailee\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKailee Pedersen writes haunted, unsettling speculative fiction. She graduated with a BA in classics from Columbia University, specializing in ancient Greek. Kailee was adopted from Nanning, China and grew up in Nebraska, where her family owns a farm. She is the author of the queer poetry chapbook \n\u003ci\u003ePastorale\u003c\/i\u003e and the novel \n\u003ci\u003eSacrificial Animals\u003c\/i\u003e, which was named one of the New York Public Library's Best Books of 2024 and a finalist for Best Horror at the 2025 Libby Book Awards. When not scribbling down her next book, you can catch her studying opera performance at the Mozarteum University, playing video games, or working as a software engineer in New York City. \n\u003ci\u003e The Minimalist\u003c\/i\u003e is her second novel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"St. Martin's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496158789910,"sku":"9781250328274","price":33.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781250328274.jpg?v=1783054423","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-minimalist","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}