Play Audiobook Sample
Free Food for Millionaires Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.18) - 22 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
In this "mesmerizing" novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko, the Korean-American daughter of first-generation immigrants strives to join Manhattan's inner circle (USA Today).
Meet Casey Han: a strong-willed, Queens-bred daughter of Korean immigrants immersed in a glamorous Manhattan lifestyle she can't afford. Casey is eager to make it on her own, away from the judgements of her parents' tight-knit community, but she soon finds that her Princeton economics degree isn't enough to rid her of ever-growing credit card debt and a toxic boyfriend. When a chance encounter with an old friend lands her a new opportunity, she's determined to carve a space for herself in a glittering world of privilege, power, and wealth-but at what cost?
Set in a city where millionaires scramble for the free lunches the poor are too proud to accept, this sharp-eyed epic of love, greed, and ambition is a compelling portrait of intergenerational strife, immigrant struggle, and social and economic mobility. Addictively readable, Min Jin Lee's bestselling debut Free Food for Millionaires exposes the intricate layers of a community clinging to its old ways in a city packed with haves and have-nots.
Download and start listening now!
"This was such a good book about an Asian girl who struggles with her family and American ways. I read it many years ago and thought it very well written and touching. "
— Pat (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
-
“This big, beguiling book has all the distinguishing marks of a Great American novel.”
— The Times (London) -
“Lee’s take on contemporary intergenerational cultural friction is wide-ranging, sympathetic, and well worth reading.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“With very broad strokes and great detail, Lee paints colorful three-dimensional characters and outlines intergenerational and cultural struggles brilliantly.”
— Booklist -
“Free Food for Millionaires stakes out new ground for twenty-first century American literature, territory both profoundly enlightening and utterly enjoyable.”
— David Henry Hwang, playwright, M. Butterfly -
Mesmerizing...Not since Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake has an author so exquisitely evoked what it's like to be an immigrant.
— --USA Today -
This big, beguiling book has all the distinguishing marks of a Great American novel.
— --The Times (London) -
Lee has updated the Victorian novel of progress to a postmodern, postfeminist world and imagined a character whose circumstances feel universal.
— --Chicago Tribune
Awards
-
A People Pick of the Week
Free Food for Millionaires Listener Reviews
-
" Great read! Characters are deep and interesting, real people with flaws. i had a hard time putting it down. I couldn't wait to see how it all came out in the end!! "
— Brandy, 4/26/2011 -
" I could not put this down. Very dramatic and tense. Well told though not literary. "
— cassie, 4/8/2011 -
" Whoops, I stumbled into some chick lit. "
— Greg, 3/14/2011 -
" It's not bad, and in fact at times it's quite good. At other times, unfortunately, the writing is a bit too reminiscent of harlequin romances. (I should know. I read those, too.) I'd say Free Food for Millionaires is worth a read, though. You could spend your spare time on worse than this. "
— Steven, 2/8/2011 -
" Ok book. Not a lot of action but the main character is a bit of a slut, so that leads to some titilating passages. "
— Tom, 1/20/2011 -
" meh. <br/>Got better as it went along. I had to make myself read the second half, after the first half. "
— SueGoCo, 1/18/2011 -
" I finished this tiresome story hoping for some insight into the story of a first generation Korean immigrant in NYC. In my opinion you could have just inserted Jewish, Italian, Greek etc. The story was one cliche after another updated perhaps for the fact that this is now the 21st century. "
— Ed, 1/15/2011 -
" Fabulous chick lit. <br/>Incredible observations about Korean church culture. <br/> "
— Rosemarie, 12/28/2010 -
" scarily true-to-life, except for all the adultery. I mean, really? the choir director? LOL. "
— Clara, 12/4/2010 -
" Fast read. Insightful autobiography(?) of second generation Korean class and generation issues. "
— Dr., 12/1/2010
About Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee is a writer whose debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was one of the “Top 10 Novels of the Year” for the Times (London), NPR’s Fresh Air, and USA Today. Her short fiction has been featured on NPR’s Selected Shorts. Her writings have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Times (London), Vogue, Travel+Leisure, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, and Food & Wine. Her essays and literary criticism have been anthologized widely. She served as a columnist for the Chosun Ilbo, the leading paper of South Korea.