"Beautiful…Lee’s sweeping four-generation saga of a Korean family is an extraordinary epic." – San Francisco Chronicle
Pachinko Author Interview
When do you read, where do you read, how do you read?
I read everywhere—at home, at the office, on the train, and on planes. I read in short and long intervals. I read full chapters. It is difficult for me to stop in the middle of anything.
Are there types of stories you'd like to see written, that aren't out there right now?
I would like to see more community-based novels, where I can be immersed in whole, well-developed worlds. I enjoy long books.
How do you find new things to read? / Where do you look for good reading recommendations?
I read reviews, and publishers send me galleys nows, which is quite a nice perquisite in my life. I ask librarians, editors, event organizers, and booksellers for recommendations.
What kind of reader were you as a child?
I read the works of favorite authors, so I would do my best to read nearly everything s/he had written. I grew up without much money, the internet, smartphones, and with only a few channels on television, and this ended up being quite useful to becoming a very well-read young person.
Was there a book that inspired you to write?
Some authors inspired me to write clean prose and others, very strong plot or powerful visions—Annie Dillard, Joan Didion, John Updike, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Sherwood Anderson, Honore de Balzac, Tolstoy, and of course, my favorite, George Eliot.
When was the first time you felt a book connected to your experience as a Korean American? Do you remember the title of the book?
The first book I ever read by a Korean American was Clay Walls by Ronyoung Kim. She published only one novel and died very soon afterward, and her novel moved me deeply.
What book/s have made you cry? What book/s have made you laugh?
I cried after reading A House for Mr. Biswas, Grapes of Wrath, House of Mirth, and Sister Carrie. The works of P.G. Wodehouse make me laugh. David Sedaris is very funny and smart.
Are there books you could recommend on the Korean American immigrant experience?
I think Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee is a terrific novel, and for Asian-American immigrant history, it is hard to beat anything by the late historian Ronald Takaki. Takaki’s Strangers from a Different Shore is a beautifully written and highly readable primer.
What helps you get into the writing mood?
Before I start work, I do what Willa Cather used to do—I read a chapter of the Bible. I have done this for twenty-five years.
Is there a book that changed your life? If so, how?
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde changed my life, because Lorde taught me to re-think my tendency to be silent, both literally and figuratively. Lorde’s essays, much like Virginia Woolf’s, taught me to think and write independently and courageously, even in the face of censure and rebuke.
Do you buy books or borrow books? How do you store your books?
I buy books when I can afford them. I borrow academic books for research because sometimes they are very costly; however, if I have to borrow them repeatedly, I will purchase them. I organize my books by subject and alphabetically on shelves, and I treasure my library.
What are you reading right now/or as the NYT says, What’s on your nightstand?
Grace Talusan’s The Body Papers, Suketu Mehta’s This Land is Our Land, and Semiautomatic and The New Black by Evie Shockley.
Do you have a connection or favorite memory of the public library?
I immigrated to the United States when I was seven years old, and my first real home was the Elmhurst Public Library, a branch of the Queens Public Library system. I did not know the English language when I arrived in New York from Seoul, and I learned how to read and write at the Elmhurst Public Library. Moreover, I discovered my abiding love of stories in my local library.
Tell us a special memory or something special you love about San Francisco.
I got married when I was 24 years old, and my husband was 27. San Francisco was one of the first cities we visited as a young married couple, and in my heart, it rivals my much beloved hometown of New York, because it is a city where you can meet people from diverse backgrounds and points of view. It is also a city for pedestrians, and this is important to me, because I love to walk as much as I love to read. Our only child goes to college in Northern California, and though we miss him, we get to visit San Francisco several times a year, which is a great consolation for empty nesters. Right now, our heart is literally in San Francisco.