Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Today's episode is such a great

conversation about sex and the sort of unspoken double bind that exists when people talk

about diversity and representation. It's between Empires Aisha Roscoe and the author R. O'Quann,

whose latest novel exhibit is about an Asian woman stuck between

her current life and her sexual desires. And what's so fascinating about this conversation is that

the character frets about what she wants sexually and what that means politically, you know,

as an Asian woman, which, you know, probably isn't conducive to good sex. But then, R. O'Quan talks about

feeling those very same pressures in simply writing about sex in this novel. They get into all

that and more after the break. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

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In Aroquan's new novel, we meet Jen Han. She's a photographer who's at a crossroads in her life.

Struggling in both her art and her marriage, she meets Lydia Jung and injured ballerina.

Lydia sparks a passion in Jen she hasn't felt in a long time.

But will this newfound friendship between the two artists unraveled Jen's carefully curated life?

Or will it be a catalyst for her work? Arroquan's new book is called Exhibit,

and just to let you know, if you happen to be listening

with Little Ones, we will be talking about SEX.

One way I've been describing the book to people, as I've been saying, Exhibit explores

...