Same Bed Different Dreams

A Novel

By: Ed Park

Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac, Dominic Hoffman, Shannon Tyo

A wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present—loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media

“Your view of twentieth-century history will be enlarged and altered. . . . A Gravity’s Rainbow for another war, an unfinished war.” —Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude

In 1919, far-flung patriots establish the Korean Provisional Government to protest the Japanese occupation of their country. This government-in-exile proves mostly symbolic, though, and after Japan’s defeat in World War II, the KPG dissolves and civil war erupts, resulting in the tragic North-South split that remains today.

But what if the KPG still existed—now working toward a unified Korea, secretly pulling levers to further its aims? Same Bed Different Dreams weaves together three distinct narrative voices, and as reality twists like a kaleidoscope. Korean history, American pop culture, and our tech-fraught lives come together in this extraordinary and unforgettable novel.

Soon Sheen, a former writer now employed by the tech behemoth GLOAT, comes into possession of an unfinished book seemingly authored by the KPG. The manuscript is a riveting revisionist history, connecting famous names and obscure bit players to the KPG’s grand project—everyone from Syngman Rhee and architect-poet Yi Sang to Jack London and Marilyn Monroe. M*A*S*H is in here, too, as are the Moonies and a history of violence extending from the assassination of President McKinley to the Reagan-era downing of a passenger plane that puts the world on the brink of war.

From the acclaimed author of Personal Days, Same Bed Different Dreams is a raucously funny feat of imagination and a thrilling meld of history and fiction that pulls readers into another dimension—one in which utopia is possible.

Different

I have to remember that this is a satire. The writer has a wry sense of humor that I enjoy. His side comments about the most mundane to whatever is surprisingly “trending” or has become “a thing” is spot on! I found the story on story on story a little confusing. But as the stories unfolded, the connections started to become evident. Certainly a different reading experience. I’m glad I finished it.

Complex and dazzling

Excellent performance (by three actors) of a multilayered epic — fun to listen to while reading the book.

Awful

Not sure why this is so highly rated ditched a quarter of the way through. Rambling and uninteresting.

Wish I liked this

I like the idea of this book, but the male reader has a voice that is hard for me to listen to as it is so bass and flat. I had my bass settings turned all the way down and my treble turned all the way up. It’s still hard to
Understand him and follow what he is saying. It does go back and forth to other readers. But then even though I can hear them better, I realize
This story is so hard to follow as well, the way it is written and the way it goes all over the place. Even when it is followable, I get bored quick. I have forced myself to keep listening all the way to where I had 14 hours left. But I just couldn’t any more. I’m glad it was free I think. But still I regret waisted time on this one.