Go away with ... Min Jin Lee
The novel traces how the Koh family’s moves reflect the pressure of education and English fluency, with hagwons shaping each step.
- New York Times best-selling author Min Jin Lee releases her new novel, "American Hagwon," on Tuesday, September 29, chronicling the Koh family's multigenerational struggle to secure futures for their three children amid economic instability.
- Moving from Seoul to Sydney and eventually Southern California, the Kohs seek ideal education as Lee explores hagwons—for-profit cram schools—following the 1997 Asian financial crisis that upended their lives.
- Lee spent years researching the novel across three continents to ensure authenticity, focusing on how one can "live a life with integrity" despite economic trauma and life's unexpected shocks.
- The novel pushes back against "tiger parents" stereotypes, with Lee calling the term a "deep insult" that dehumanizes Asian American parents and ignores their diverse, genuine efforts to support their children.
- Lee hopes the Koh family's story sparks national discussion on parenting and education beyond mere certification, arguing such difficult conversations are essential for the United States to remain a great country.
14 Articles
14 Articles
National Book Award-finalist Min Jin Lee talks about her new novel, 'American Hagwon'
NPR's Scott Simon talks with Min Jin Lee about her new novel, "American Hagwon." It explores the prized role of education in Korean culture (hagwons are rigorous tutoring centers).
Q&A: Min Jin Lee talks diaspora experience, education in latest novel
New York Times best-selling author Min Jin Lee’s new novel, “American Hagwon” comes out later this month. The New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame inductee is best known for her sophomore novel “Pachinko,” a National Book Award finalist and Dayton Literary Peace Prize runner-up. Often writing about experiences of the Korean and...
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Go away with ... Min Jin Lee
For critically-acclaimed author Min Jin Lee, the in-depth research she did for her latest novel “American Hagwon” – out Sept. 29 – included extensive visits across three continents to ensure that her fictional family’s lives rang true. In an effort…
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