In this episode, Alexi is joined by writer, editor, and dear friend Olivia Kan-Sperling to discuss the aesthetic universe of her brand new novel, Little Pink Book, a lyrical and decadent romantic tragedy set in Shanghai. In unpacking her wide range of influences, we explore shabby chic Orientalism, avant garde florists, Chinese romantasy web novels, baroque bespoke beverages, the emerging field of Wasian studies, the triggering qualities of Clairo’s “Pretty Girl” music video, the possibility of Labubu as a literary format, and much more.

Links:

Image board

Little Pink Book by Olivia Kan-Sperling from Simon and Schuster

Olivia’s website

Olivia on Instagram @dianadiagram

Alexi’s interview with Olivia in Interview magazine

Diane Severin Nguyen: In Her Time (Iris’s Version)

Empire of Signs by Roland Barthes

Molly Tea’s domineering CEO romance receipt promo via Dr. Candise Lin

The Architecture of Taste by Pierre Hermé - Lecture to the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2013)

Julian Castronovo review of Little Pink Book in BOMB magazine

Shanzhai: Deconstruction in Chinese by Byung-Chul Han

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