Free Food for Millionaires | Min Jin Lee

Free Food for Millionaires | Min Jin Lee | A somewhat sensationalized, and exaggerated, slice of Korean American life

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Free Food for Mill...

	Free Food for Millionaires Min Jin Lee Grand Central Publishing, 2008 - 592 pages average customer review:based on 57 reviews view larger image
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Loved This Book

Although I'm probably a "third tier reviewer" (see nastly useless review below), I adored this book. It was completely a revelation about Korean immigrant culture, something I know nothing about, but with characters that anyone could recognize and relate to. Having read so many books where the characters have one personality trait, it was so wonderful to read a book where the characters have flaws, make terrible mistakes but you still care for them and want them to succeed. I did not want this book to end. Speaking of endings, my only criticism is that the ending was ambiguous. After having invested so much time with these characters I wanted a tighter ending. But, having thought about how the book ended, I do think it was very true to the nature of the book which was almost a movie/narration of four years in one character's life. This was my favorite book in a long long time. I thought it was brilliant and on a subject no one focuses on in any kind of sophisticated manner -- that period after college but before career. Finally, for anyone having trouble getting through the print edition of the book, I also recommend the unabridged audio; the narrator brings all of the characters to life making it hard to stop listening.

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A somewhat sensationalized, and exaggerated, slice of Korean American life

As a Korean American male in my early 30's and also in the Investment Banking industry I picked up this book with much curiosity and anticipation. I have to say at the end of it, my thoughts were mixed. In my life, I've lived in the environment that both the author and the main character have gone through- Korean American church life, demanding academics, traditional parents and the rush to find a reputable profession after college. In my time I've known my share of archetypes in the mold of Casey Han, Ted Kim, Joseph Han, Unu Shim and yes even the ultra innocent, tragically beautiful, but ultimately naiveté and played like a fiddle Ella Shim. These caricatures not only exist in our community, but are also recognizable and realistic.

The first half of the book I thought Lee was building up to something quite interesting, perhaps accomplishing something groundbreaking like Chang Rae Lee did in his book "Native Speaker." However, the second half of the book devolved into something that didn't say anything really and was just fodder for gossip talk. Although, there were plenty of flawed characters in this book, it seems as if the Korean Americans, both men and women, were the most dysfunctional people. The only two Korean Americans that had the best values and most consistent personalities, Ellas's father and Casey's sister, were the most underdeveloped characters. The more drama you had in your life, the more words Ms. Lee devoted to developing your character. Maybe that was Lee's point? To take the standard immigrant literary fare of the hard working and noble immigrant family and turn it on its head and write about immigrants who are just as messed up as everyone else around them. For good measure, make them a little more messed up then their non-Korean peers. This is not an accurate representation of what most Korean Americans are. There are certainly characters in real life that are like the characters in the book, but the frequency is certainly skewed.

Also, the date rape that happened in the last third of the book bothered me greatly and I didn't think it was at all necessary. If Ms. Lee wanted to demonstrate tragic flaws in some characters I honestly do believe she could of used another vehicle to achieve her purpose. If I wasn't Korean American, I'd probably give this book another star. It is very well written and engaging if you are not emotionally tied to the culture that the characters navigate through. However, it is far from a classic and it is more along the lines of a light summer read. What saddens me is that, with a little more intelligence, foresight and responsible writing, it could have been so much more.

Those that have their DVR presets to the Oxygen and AZN channels will appreciate this book the most.

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And On and On and On

I listened to all 16 of the disks of this novel -- patiently and expectantly. Some of the characters were interesting, and their dilemmas recognizable. Some of the appeal was the exoticism of getting into the heads of highly pious, Korean immigrants and ambitious, frightened Wall Street interns. I learned a little about Ivy League striving and the ambivalence of young professionals. Unfortunately, this book cries out for a strong editor.

Started out great but ending was flat

I loved the first half of the book. It had direction, wit, suspense, and the beginnings of a naive protagonist who I figured would grow and evolve into someone who would actually make use of her enormous potential to do SOMETHING.

It was very frustrating to read the latter half of the book. In a way, it was too realistic. Example: Casey's encounter with her father, Joseph. That conflict was never really resolved nor addressed in the latter half- an element of reality that is overshadowed by happy endings and hugs&tears in storybooks and movies. In this book, the ending brought no closure, and offered little insight as to where the central protagonist was headed. It was very disappointing.

Looking at some of the other reviews, I'm surprised at the comments criticizing the author's writing (which I thought was superb). Ms. Lee has potential and I hope that she, unlike Casey Han, is able to deliver a story worthy of her descriptive eye and writing talent later on in her career.

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Good but not Great

I thought overall Lee is a pretty good writer, and enough happened with the plot that I wasn't too bored. However, sometimes I felt that she relied on stereotypes of certain characters. As you can see from the other reviews, I'm not the only one who observed this. Because the character development is based on stereotypes, it became somewhat two dimensional and lacking. I thought that many of the characters were pretty superficial, including Casey. The author seemed to obsess about making sure that we knew where practically each character went to high school and college and had this rigid view of public v. private education. Based upon where the character went to school and where he or she grew up, he or she was pretty much type-cast. Maybe it's not her fault and it's just a reflection of NY society? However, if you want to read one person's depictions about what Korean American immigrant life in NY is like, I'd recommend it.

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