A Bestselling Author Put an Israeli Character Into Her New Novel. Then the Internet Lost Its Mind.

A forthcoming novel set in Taiwan follows a Chinese American college student taking an intensive Mandarin course. During a moment of emotional distress, the narrator impulsively enters a concert hall and hears a visiting Israeli pianist perform Liszt. The pianist is unnamed, has no dialogue, and does not interact with the narrator or affect the plot beyond appearing briefly. The controversy centers on online reactions to this small depiction, with critics claiming it normalizes a genocidal state and chooses the side of the oppressor. The backlash includes denunciations and calls to boycott the author’s books, despite the character’s limited presence and lack of narrative role.

"Kuang's Taipei Story won't be published until September, and it's a departure for the author, who has written only one other non-fantasy novel, the publishing-world satire Yellowface. Her new novel is the story of a Chinese American college student who takes an intensive summer course in Mandarin at a university in the capital of Taiwan. But at one "problematic" point in the story, Lily, the narrator, who is in a state of considerable emotional distress, impulsively ducks into a concert hall."

"The performer is a visiting artist, a pianist from Israel, who plays Liszt, converting Lily into a classical music appreciator. The pianist is unnamed, speaks not a single line of dialogue, and has no interaction with Lily or role in the novel's plot. He appears on exactly two pages of Taipei Story. That's it-the cause of Instagram comments charging Kuang with having "chosen the side of the oppressor" and with "normalizing a genocidal state," as well as calls for boycotts of all her books."

"Someone with an advance copy of a forthcoming and much-anticipated novel has posted screenshots from the book as evidence that the author is guilty of thought crimes. This has led to denunciations on Instagram; solemn, brow-furrowing considerations of the affair on YouTube; and firebrand declarations on TikTok. Depending on how familiar you are with how these controversies work, however, you may be surprised to learn that the latest target is R.F. Kuang."

"According to Kuang's critics, the mere mention of any Israeli character that is not immediately qualified with denunciations of the state itself contributes to the"

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