NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Min Jin Lee’s first since her million-selling 鈥淧achinko鈥� is a long book that grew out of a basic question: What do Koreans care most about?
鈥淲e鈥檙e obsessed with education, and it became my obsession over why Koreans care so much,鈥� says Lee, whose 鈥淎merican Hagwon,鈥� scheduled for Sept. 29, will likely be one of the year’s most anticipated books. Hagwons are for-profit tutoring centers 鈥� sometimes likened to 鈥渃ram schools鈥� 鈥� where Koreans of all ages receive instruction for everything from English to guitar to cooking. Any language school or organization that gives private lesson music classes鈥� can be considered a Hagwon, Lee says.
The author, 57, calls herself an 鈥渁ccidental historian,鈥� a novelist who uses broad narratives to unearth the past, make sense of the present and explore race, gender and class among other issues. 鈥淎merican Hagwon鈥� is the third of a planned quartet about Korea and the Korean diaspora that began with 鈥淔ree Food for Millionaires鈥� in 2007 and continued a decade later with 鈥淧achinko,鈥� a National Book Award finalist that was and has been translated into dozens of languages.
In 2024, The New York Times ranked 鈥淧achinko鈥� at No. 15 among the best novels of the 21st century.
Cardinal, a Hachette Book Group imprint, is calling her new release a deep look into 鈥渨hat happens when the rules shift, the world order becomes suddenly unrecognizable and benchmarks of success are no longer a guarantee.鈥� In 鈥淎merican Hagwon,鈥� Lee sets her story everywhere from Korea to Australia to Southern California as she tracks the journey of a middle-class Korean family upended by the Asian financial crisis and hoping to regain its bearings.
鈥淎lmost 10 years after Pachinko, Min Jin Lee continues to give shape to history鈥檚 seismic shifts in her fiction, refracting generational change through indelible, masterfully etched characters you can鈥檛 help rooting for,鈥� Cardinal Publisher and Senior Vice President Reagan Arthur said in a statement.
A native of Seoul whose family emigrated to New York City when she was 7, Lee attended the elite Bronx High School of Science, studied history at Yale University and law at Georgetown University. She knows well the importance of preparation, and laughs as she remembers that her father has nicknamed her 鈥渢he turtle,鈥� because she is slow 鈥� but 鈥渧ery steady.鈥� Her books take a long time, in part, because she puts so much work into them. Her stories are based not just on research and reflection, but on extended travel and interviews.
鈥淚 want to hold up a mirror to society, and, as the kids say, do a 鈥檝ibe check,鈥� she says.
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