Bookshop Santa Cruz presents: Min Jin Lee | AMERICAN HAGWON

The National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko returns with a breathtaking contemporary epic: a masterpiece by turns sweeping and intimate, that reckons with ambition and moderation, lust and loyalty, personal dreams and familial duty.

"With her gift for wonderfully empathetic storytelling, this is a profoundly generous and humane novel about duty, family, and the dream of a better life…. I was fully absorbed by the fates of the Koh family and, as the novel worked its cumulative magic, deeply moved by this masterful tale of sacrifice, familial devotion, and, ultimately, acceptance." — Douglas Stuart, author of John of John and Shuggie Bain, winner of the Booker Prize

ABOUT THE EVENT + TICKETS:

• This in-person event will include a 1-hour discussion with audience Q&A. Books will be pre-signed before the event; there won't be a public book signing line.

• There are two ticket package options; please select carefully:

  • $45.11 Solo Package: 1 ticket, 1 book 

  • $50.41 Double Package: 2 tickets, 1 book

• All-in pricing: the price you see is what you pay, all taxes and fees are included

• All ticket packages include a copy of AMERICAN HAGWON, distributed at the event (books are not available for early pickup). If you do not wish for your included book, we are happy to donate it! Books unclaimed at the event will be held for pickup at Bookshop Santa Cruz for two months, after which they will be released.

• Additional books will be available for purchase on-site.

• Doors open an hour before showtime. Open seating. Seats unfilled 20 minutes past showtime are subject to release.

• Tickets are final sale and do not qualify for Readers Club credit. Books uncollected at the event will be held for pickup at Bookshop Santa Cruz for two months, after which they will be released for donation.

• This event is cosponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz. 

Thank you! We can't wait to see you at the event!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR + BOOK: 

Min Jin Lee is the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, a finalist for the National Book Award, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and a New York Times "100 Best Books of the Century." She serves as the New York State Author Laureate from 2025 through 2027. She is the 2024 recipient of The Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence. Lee has received the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Bucheon Diaspora Literary Award, and the Samsung Happiness for Tomorrow Award for Creativity from South Korea. She is the recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Lee is an inductee of the New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame and the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. She lives in Harlem with her family.

Praise for American Hagwon:

"Through masterfully controlled storytelling, Lee patiently explores how her large group of characters' fortunes are shaped by forces from without and within: the powerful lure of sex, the sucking vacuum of greed, the insidiousness of racism, the obligations between parents and children. What makes a good life? The author's wisdom is a gift to her readers."— Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"In this immersive masterpiece, Lee takes on Korea's all-consuming obsession with education...Beyond irresistible storytelling, Lee expertly confronts broken systems, familial expectations, and peripatetic identities with empathy and brilliance."— Booklist (starred)