The first book I read by Chang-rae Lee was A Gesture Life. I bought it for my father one Christmas, when I was still in college, and I remember that winter vacation my whole family took turns stealing it from each other and sneaking reads while the others searched for it in the places they had last put it down. We fought over that book, and even I– the one who had given it as a gift to my Dad–would steal it away from him when he wasn’t looking. It was that good. Chang-rae Lee is the only author my whole family read like that–all of us at the same time–and the only author whose books we all waited for and looked forward to together.
I’m grateful for that. I love his books, and his work has meant a lot to me. So when I got a note from him saying he’d read my book–and then I saw the quote he’d given for Forgotten Country–well, I swooned. I called my mother, and she swooned. In fact, I am swooning yet.
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