false<![CDATA[Free Food for Millionaires]]>70973412<i>Free Food for Millionaires</i>, the debut novel from Min Jin Lee, takes on daunting themes of love, money, race, and belief systems in this mostly satisfying tale. Casey Han is a Princeton grad, class of '93, and it is her conflicts, relationships, and temperament that inform the novel. She is the child of immigrant Korean parents who work in the same laundry in Queens where they have always worked and are trying hard to hang on to their culture. Casey has catapulted out of that life on scholarships but now that college is over, she hasn't the same opportunities as her white friends, even though she has acquired all of their expensive habits.
The concept of free food for millionaires is the perfect irony that describes much of what Casey faces. Walter, one of her bosses, says, when a huge buffet lunch is delivered to the floor: "It's free food for millionaires... In the International Equities Department--that is, Asia, Europe, and Japan Sales--the group you're interviewing for--whichever desk that sells a deal buys lunch for everyone in the department."
Casey is ambivalent about everything--her love life, work, friendships, her family, dating a Korean man--but she seems to believe that money would sort everything out and smooth any rough spots. She works part-time for a fashion maven who would like to "adopt" her by paying for business school, but Casey can't quite accept all that she offers. She pulls back from help, digs herself deeper in debt, works like a slave during an internship and then, when she is offered the job, finally begins to realize what she might really want--and it isn't only money.
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. <I>--Valerie Ryan</I>33432342252007Free Food for Millionairestotal:1410|5:198|4:498|3:461|2:193|1:60|14104811212241228falsefalseSun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Wed Nov 14 03:48:22 -0800 2007Thu Nov 15 06:05:29 -0800 2007
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35falsefalseSat May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008Sat May 17 18:31:26 -0700 2008Sat May 17 18:31:26 -0700 2008 This book could have been trimmed by about 100 pages, but nonetheless I enjoyed it in the way I enjoy Guiding Light. Will they kiss? Oh my the unaccepted boyfriend is going to make a scene with her parents! Oh my! This soap opera of a novel takes us th...more...]]>
54falsefalseSat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Mon Sep 10 07:45:33 -0700 2007Mon Sep 10 07:57:04 -0700 2007 "free food" follows the post-college years of casey han, a queens-born ivy league grad who's u...more...]]>
22falsetrueWed Sep 10 03:26:02 -0700 2008Fri Jul 25 01:22:14 -0700 2008Wed Sep 10 03:26:02 -0700 2008 ...more...]]>
14falsefalseSun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Fri Jul 13 20:49:03 -0700 2007Sun Jul 15 11:45:10 -0700 2007
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23falsefalseSun Feb 10 21:02:19 -0800 2008Fri Feb 29 00:21:21 -0800 2008
kalbi eaters (my kind of people), full of sex, and ultimately... not all that. Actually it was kind of weak. Maybe it's me, but major plotlines involving getting internships while in business school (...more...]]>
21falsefalseTue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008Fri Jun 13 19:13:13 -0700 2008Wed Jul 30 14:24:55 -0700 2008
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21falsefalseWed May 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008Mon Apr 14 14:33:24 -0700 2008Thu May 08 09:28:47 -0700 2008
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21falsefalseSat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007Thu Nov 15 12:06:35 -0800 2007Sat Dec 01 10:01:51 -0800 2007
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21falsefalseSat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Fri Aug 24 10:53:20 -0700 2007Tue Sep 18 22:07:23 -0700 2007 The remaining 500 pages drag through endless chapters of Casey and her acquaintances trying to get on with their lives. So...more...]]>
52falsefalseFri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Fri Jul 20 17:41:05 -0700 2007Fri Jul 20 19:31:16 -0700 2007 Unlike the majority of the reviewers, I liked Casey Han. I found her pursuit of higher education, materialism, desire for religion, lust, need for independence, mass credit card debt, love of fashion, and the way she constantly seemed to disappoint her fami...more...]]>
21falsefalseSat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007Sun Oct 14 17:23:38 -0700 2007Tue Dec 25 15:04:51 -0800 2007
Characters: mostly annoying.
Writing style: mostly annoying. Switching back and forth between the characters' thoughts was constantly distracting.
Plot lines: Not particularly believable. The plot line with Leah Han and Char...more...]]>
41falsefalseWed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Tue Aug 21 11:32:43 -0700 2007Thu Aug 23 19:17:09 -0700 2007
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51falsefalseSun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007Mon Jul 02 15:32:02 -0700 2007Mon Jul 02 15:39:16 -0700 2007 It's true that Casey, the main character, makes one bad dec...more...]]>
21falsefalseFri Mar 06 10:26:30 -0800 2009Fri Mar 06 10:32:10 -0800 200920falsefalseFri Jan 16 03:59:10 -0800 2009Fri Jan 16 05:02:28 -0800 2009
There were some things I could relate to... I mean, aside from all the usual stuff? It definit...more...]]>
30falsefalseTue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009Thu Jan 15 10:36:30 -0800 2009Thu Jan 15 10:40:15 -0800 2009
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40falsefalseTue Oct 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009Thu Oct 15 19:30:30 -0700 2009Thu Oct 15 19:31:11 -0700 2009 Casey Han had a scholarship to Princeton; otherwise, she'd have been unable to attend. Her time at Princeton gave her "No job and many bad habits," and a hunger for a lifestyle far above that which she could afford or had been used...more...]]>
10falsefalseWed Jul 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009Wed Jul 22 13:06:31 -0700 2009Wed Jul 22 22:12:08 -0700 2009
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40falsefalseFri Apr 17 10:37:25 -0700 2009Fri Apr 17 10:37:39 -0700 2009
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