Min Jin Lee on “American Hagwon,” Her First Novel After the Phenomenon of “Pachinko”
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The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC and The New Yorker. This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Now, some authors publish a book every year or every couple of years. And then there are those who disappear like cicadas, buried underground for a long period of time, cultivating the work, and then they prepare to re-emerge.
Min Jin Lee is one of those writers. Once a corporate lawyer, she quit her job and spent more than ten years working on her debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires. And a decade went by before we read Pachenko, a historical epic and truly a phenomenon that was translated into some 35 languages. And now, after nearly another decade, we finally have a chance to read Min Jinli's third book, American Hagwan.
It follows a Korean family as they move from Seoul to Sydney, Australia, to Southern California, all in pursuit of a better life and the best possible education for the kids. Min, tell me about arriving in the United States. I think you were seven years old. What was your English like when you were seven years old and you arrived here? Zero.
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