Min Jin Lee on “American Hagwon” and writing “social novels”

November 15, 2026 / 10:21 AM EST / CBS News

It's been nearly a decade since Min Jin Lee's last book made her a literary phenomenon. "Pachinko," a sweeping historical epic chronicling four generations of a Korean family living in Japan, sold more than two million copies in the United States. It was adapted into a popular series on Apple TV.

But all that success didn't come easily. "When 'Pachinko' first came out as a hardcover, it was never on the bestseller lists," said Lee. "If you look at my hardcover sales, they're abysmal. So, if you start out with failure, it's really easy."

Did she consider "Pachinko" at its beginning a failure? "Oh, I think you can ask my publishers!" she laughed. "They would just say, this didn't sell!"

It wasn't until The New York Times named it one of the best books of the year, and it was selected as a National Book Award finalist, that "Pachinko" took off.

Lee's latest novel, "American Hagwon" (published by Cardinal), is the third in a series she calls "The Diaspora Quartet," chronicling the migration of Koreans around the world.

"Every industrial revolution had people leaving the farm to go to the…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/