How BTS Did It

In early May, rumors swirled on social media about a mysterious book. Its title wouldn’t be announced until June 13, but it was slated for worldwide publication on July 9, with an initial print run of 1 million copies. Media coverage focused on fan speculation that the author was Taylor Swift, a theory that drove a wave of preorders of the still-unnamed project. However, some of us immediately deduced that the book was actually about the South Korean pop group BTS. The biggest clue was that the announcement and release dates were each a major anniversary for the band—10 years since its debut and the naming of its enormous fan base, ARMY, respectively.

And indeed, within days the publisher, Flatiron Books, to that the 544-page book was titled It was written by the South Korean journalist Myeongseok Kang (and translated into English by Anton Hur,. How candid would the members be? Would the book speak mostly to diehards like me, or would it manage to capture the nature of stratospheric fame for general readers? After a decade of the group’s existence, how far would go beyond the … well, you know.