(Yonhap Interview) Witty and insightful, Lee's novel gains following in S. Korea

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- She was once cast in with that sea of would-be
authors, struggling to find a publisher for her debut novel: a lengthy, dense
work full of complex characters that might intimidate even the most voracious
reader.
Now, people call her the "21st century Jane Austen," and Lee Min-jin has become
one of the few Korean-American writers to have their book translated into the
language of their parents.
"Free Food for Millionaires" -- a U.S. national best seller selected as a New
York Times Editor's Choice and for the Wall Street Journal Juggle Book Club --
has been among the top 10 bestsellers in South Korea's "foreign fiction" list for
several months.
"The responses from my readers regardless of race or culture have been very
affirming," Lee said in an email interview with Yonhap News Agency. "I am
profoundly grateful to all of my readers."
Backed by the growing popularity and recognition in her motherland, Lee will be
giving a lecture at Seoul's prestigious Ewha Womans University in June on "Women,
Displacement and Culture Identity."
A fan of Insadong, a central Seoul neighborhood populated by art galleries and
independent shops, Lee said she visits South Korea frequently. She currently
lives in Tokyo with her husband and son and is working on her second novel,
"Pachinko," about the Zainichi Korean population in Japan.
Lee began writing "Free Food" in 2001 and finished it five years later -- and
appears to have had a lot to say. The English version of "Free Food" is 560
pages-long and the Korean version has been divided into two volumes.
The catchy title, she said, came from a friend's story.
"One day, a friend told me a story about free lunches given at investment banks
after a deal ends and sometimes the wealthiest employees were the first in line
to grab a lot of free food. I thought this was ironic and funny: free food for
millionaires," she said. "But as I wrote the story, I also wanted to make the
point that I believe that we are all millionaires because each of us has been
given original and invaluable gifts."
The book is certainly not just about investment bankers or free lunches. It is a
coming-of-age story that follows the intermingling lives of a handful of
characters from various racial and class backgrounds, set against the churning
background of New York City.
Although Lee uses a large portion of the book to depict the lives of Korean
immigrants in the United States -- led by her protagonist Casey Han -- the book
has drawn fans across a spectrum of readers.
"The book's main themes are identity, love, and community," Lee said. "I wanted
to write about many characters, not just one, and I wanted to follow all of their
stories. It was crucial to me that their stories were related to one another's,
much in the way our lives are interconnected in real life."
Lee says the novel is somewhat autobiographical, but describes Casey -- a lanky
Princeton-educated 20-something in search for love and stability -- as "much more
interesting" than herself.
The eldest daughter of blue collar immigrant Korean parents running a laundromat
in Queens, Casey struggles to find the path that "seems fit for her" regardless
of the options her expensive education provides.
In many ways, she is a conflicted character, too proud to take charity from
wealthier friends while addicted to expensive habits like designer clothes and
posh restaurants. The concept of "free food for millionaires" represents the
perfect irony describing much of what she faces.
Through the eyes of Casey and her friends and colleagues, Lee explores classism
and Western prejudices against Asian women.
In one scene, Casey is invited to her male colleague's apartment and is shocked
to find pornography featuring an Asian woman and a white man.
"I find it troubling that Asian women are viewed routinely as mail-order brides,
prostitutes, porn stars and dragon ladies in the western literature and media,"
Lee said. "I question the possibility of racial neutrality and objectiveness in
interracial sexual relationships which have been affected by one lover's use of
racialist pornography. This scene was a way for me to explore these questions."
Lee, 39, went to Yale University where she was awarded both the Henry Wright
Prize for Nonfiction and the James Ashmun Veech Prize for Fiction. She attended
law school at Georgetown University and worked as a lawyer for several years in
New York prior to writing full time.
Lee said she never regretted giving up the high-powered job to become a full-time
writer and mother.
"I quit being a lawyer in 1995 when I was working 7 days a week for one straight
month," she said. "I think being a writer is very tough and challenging, and
being a mom is the hardest and most rewarding job in the world."
Because she did not know of any Korean writers writing in English growing up, Lee
said she felt it wasn't possible to be a writer.
"But if you are going to be a writer, you write anyway. It's hard to be a writer
in any country, but it is also an enormous privilege, too."
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)