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Free Food for Millionaires
Free Food for Millionaires
Author: Min Jin Lee
"Competence can be a curse." So begins Min Jin Lee's epic novel about class, society, and identity. Casey Han's four years at Princeton have given her many things: "a refined diction, an enviable golf handicap, a popular white boyfriend, an agnostic's closeted passion for reading the Bible, and a magna cum laude degree in economics. But no job a...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780446699853
ISBN-10: 0446699853
Publication Date: 4/9/2008
Pages: 576
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 36

3.4 stars, based on 36 ratings
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

nomi avatar reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on + 31 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
What a great book! I couldn't put it down, and I look forward to this author's next book (this was her first). The protagonist, Casey, is the daughter of Korean immigrants, and after graduation from Princeton she finds her self without a clear plan for her future. She leaves home due to conflicts with her father, and struggles throughout the book with family issues, money, career, love, and friends. The book offers a good view of the Korean American community, as well. I just lent it to a friend, but will post it if I get it back.
reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on + 19 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I started this book and was really enjoying it, but mid-way through it I started to get really bored. The story just seemed to muddle along and it appeared that there was going to be no climax to the story. Consequently I got tired of it and skimmed and didn't really finish the last third of the book. I do like the authors style of writing, I just think the book is just a little longer than is necessary.
reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on
Helpful Score: 3
This book was so interesting I ended up reading it twice. The female protagonist has a much different mindset then any your typical and delving into her character alone is worth reading the book for. Another thing that makes this book stand out is that the viewpoint of all the character's in the book are all almost equally expressed and with such deftness. While, of course, this has been done before I have rarely seen anyone so adept at dong so and exploring so many sides of a thing. You get that a lot of this is personal to the author which makes it even more remarkable.
verap avatar reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
In this debut novel, Lee does provide insights into the life of Korean-Americans, but for me a much bigger theme was that of dealing with life post college. The main character, Casey Han, has no clear direction in life, and struggles to find her own way. Used to the lavish lifestyles of her friends in college, Casey digs herself further and further into debt. She believes money to be the solution to everything, but turns down the offer for free business school. Slaving away as an intern at an investment company, she is offered a position, but is no longer sure that is what she wants. Throughout the novel, Casey works towards things that she believes will will solve her problems and make her happy, only to find out that she never really wanted them to begin with.

Casey is the perfect example of the recently popularized "quarter-life crisis". She's impressionable, lost in the "real world" and unsure of where she wants to go in her life and her relationships. I really think that this novel will strike a chord with recent college graduated who will recognize a little bit of themselves in Casey Han.
reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on
Helpful Score: 2
Nice insight into the tradition of Korean family life. Interesting but a little long winded. I dont know what could have been cut but it was engaging.
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reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on + 29 more book reviews
To quote a review from Pubishers Weekly - "A noteworthy debut - Lee's take on contemporary intergenerational cultural friction is wide-ranging, sympathetic and well worth reading." This book has a very interesting array of characters and situations that they find themselves in, delves into many real life contemporary issues, and has excellent descriptive qualities. It took me a chapter or two to get into it, but once I became interested in the characters, I really enjoyed their story lines. I would agree with other reviewers that there are a couple of loose ends I would have liked to seen tied up alittle neater before the book ends, but perhaps that was the author's intent? If you are looking for a nice, long read that flows nicely and holds your interest, I would highly recommend this book.
reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on + 14 more book reviews
After reading this book, I could not disagree with this review found on Amazon.com. This book left me hanging.:
There are several loose ends left dangling, some bad behavior toward others on Casey's part and an unlikely and too coincidental passing acquaintance with an old bookseller whose wife was crazy about hats, as is Casey. When he dies, he leaves all her hats to Casey--which just might just be the start of something. The author runs out of steam after 512 pages and ends the book without really finishing it, but it is a thoughtful treatment of many of the questions Lee raises, and an emninently worthwhile debut. --Valerie Ryan
reviewed Free Food for Millionaires on + 9 more book reviews
Great book about the struggle second generation/1.5 generation Korean Americans go through dealing with the traditional Korean culture their immigrant parents want and expect of them while at the same time dealing with American cultural norms as well. Loved the book!


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