Min Jin Lee's American Hagwon completes her Korean trilogy

Min Jin Lee's third novel, American Hagwon, is now available. The book, the final part of her Korean trilogy following Free Food for Millionaires (2007) and Pachinko (2017), centers on a for-profit educational institution and critiques systemic barriers in the Korean diaspora experience. The 57-year-old author examines the 'tiger mom' phenomenon and the inequities of elite education systems. Lee identifies education as a pathway encompassing success, broken dreams, status, certification, transactionalism, and alumni networks for Koreans globally.

Lee notes that American education is experiencing a crisis, with declining levels in reading, math, critical thinking, and media literacy. She emphasizes that American public education has failed many children, citing varying state standards and serious post-COVID problems like chronic absenteeism. Her central question became why education matters so much to Koreans, a pursuit that led her to realize it encompasses wisdom beyond mere schooling. "I would love to write a short novel, but I don’t know how with these subjects," Lee said. She wants readers to imagine her characters speaking Korean even when the dialogue is written in English.

Author's decades-long research process

Lee's meticulous approach to writing spans decades. She began researching American Hagwon before Pachinko was published, a process that took about ten years total. This fits her pattern of averaging one book per decade, with Free Food for Millionaires taking 11 years to write and Pachinko taking 20 years. She describes her technique as a form of ventriloquism and transcription requiring years to master. Lee spent time listening to ordinary people globally to inform her writing, and she recently returned from a research trip in Germany for her next book, Marshall Plan, set in 1963. She believes diaspora, involving economic and environmental displacement, is a permanent condition for every person.

Literary legacy and commercial success

Lee's previous novel, Pachinko, established her as a major literary voice. It sold over 5 million copies globally, was a National Book Award finalist, and was named one of the New York Times 100 best books of the century. It was adapted for Apple TV in 2022. Her novels, each exceeding 500 pages, focus on the Korean diaspora, and she has no intention of writing short novels due to the complexity of her subjects. American Hagwon was acquired through a 12-way publishing auction and is published by 4th Estate.

Lee's personal history deeply informs her work. She quit her job as a corporate lawyer in 1995 in her mid-twenties after being diagnosed as a hepatitis B carrier. "I thought, if I’m going to die, I’m going to write a book first," she recalled. Her father was a North Korean war refugee who fled at age 16 and never saw his family again. Lee grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, where her parents owned a newsstand and later a wholesale jewellery shop. She attended the Bronx High School of Science and Yale University, married Christopher Duffy at 24, and had a son at 29.

She draws inspiration from British Victorian writers like Austen and Eliot and leads a quiet life, beginning her day by reading and making notes on a chapter of the Bible. Her manuscripts exceed 200,000 words, and she often discards drafts to start over. Lee has no interest in autofiction, stating it is 'for a certain reader' and not for her. She sees herself not as Korean but as the center of her own universe, writing about Koreans as human beings with universal issues. Her thesis in American Hagwon is that 'The rules of engagement have changed already.' The novel follows the Koh family from 1997 to 2008 through the lens of the demanding hagwon system.