Casey Han's four years at Princeton gave her many things, "But no job and a number of bad habits." Casey's parents, who live in Queens, are Korean ...
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Oct 23, 2011
Eveline
rated it: 
among the many flaws of this book, the protagonist is not at all likable (are we really supposed to find it quirky and charming that she's into weird hats? cause i just find it kind of lame), the characters are ridiculous caricatures (people who go to ivy league schools play golf, cheating boyfriends don't just cheat; they have a threesome with some sorority girls), and much of the book is set in the investment banking world, meaning that we are presented with the quandary of being asked to like
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May 17, 2008
Hubert
rated it: 
***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
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 through the life of a young Korean-American Princeton graduate who's surrounded by other upwardly mobile Ivy graduates while she herself perpetually can't get out of debt on account of her shopping addi More...
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 through the life of a young Korean-American Princeton graduate who's surrounded by other upwardly mobile Ivy graduates while she herself perpetually can't get out of debt on account of her shopping addi More...
Sep 10, 2007
Cathy
rated it: 
if i'd actually paid attention when i was applying to college, this might be an accurate reflection of my life. and if i was korean. and if i was religious. and if i liked making hats.
"free food" follows the post-college years of casey han, a queens-born ivy league grad who's undergoing one of those infamous "quarter-life" crises. the author, lee, keeps you interested by letting you peek into the minds of her employers, boyfriends, family, and friends.
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"free food" follows the post-college years of casey han, a queens-born ivy league grad who's undergoing one of those infamous "quarter-life" crises. the author, lee, keeps you interested by letting you peek into the minds of her employers, boyfriends, family, and friends.
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Dec 17, 2009
Natalie
rated it: 
Update 7/15: I'm not reading any further. I just can't stand the way Lee writes. It's like Edith Wharton's clumsy cousin wrote a book, and then piped it through a Babelfish translator into chicklit cliches circa 2001. With a small dash of Korean culture for seasoning. An unsympathetic protagonist is a challenge for any novelist, but especially for one who writes so horribly. Sure, Lee has won a number of prizes and the book's been well reviewed in a number of places, but I just couldn't read
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Sep 10, 2008
Elaine
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
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Dec 17, 2009
Jennifer
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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 family quite realistic. Despite the fact that Casey is willing to walk away from her family, her cheating American boyfriend, her Korean boyfriend, and refuses help offered by her long-time family friend More...
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 family quite realistic. Despite the fact that Casey is willing to walk away from her family, her cheating American boyfriend, her Korean boyfriend, and refuses help offered by her long-time family friend More...
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Feb 29, 2008
Bishop
rated it:
I had been waiting for a long time to read the book. It was a page turner, peopled by overachieving 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 (oh, sorry, B school) are not the stuff of dreams. And how many love triangles/illicit love affairs/star-crossed romances can a 550+ page book support? Apparently less than seven? The characters were
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Jan 01, 2011
Bee
rated it:
Ha Jin’s A FREE LIFE and Min Jin Lee’s FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES are two recent and compelling novels about the Asian immigrants’ experience in America in the 1990s. Each novel provides a unique and incisive perspective on the United States at the end of the twentieth century, especially with regard to American social class and changing American social values.
Min Jin Lee’s novel, FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES, follows a recent decade in the life of an extended Korean-American family, most o More...
Min Jin Lee’s novel, FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES, follows a recent decade in the life of an extended Korean-American family, most o More...
Jul 30, 2008
Heather
rated it:
Train wreck! This book and Casey Han’s life are best described as train wrecks. I did not want to see the bloody carnage that is this book, but like any good rubber necker I couldn’t help but stare! That is the problem with this book – I did not like the characters, I did not like the book, but I could not stop reading! I’ve never experienced a book such as this – where I was engaged and intrigued to learn more about the debacle that is Casey’s life, but overall I did not like the book. I could
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May 08, 2008
Jess
rated it:
It was long, but fairly light and engrossing, and I was always interested in finding out what happened to the characters (even though a lot of things they did - particularly financial things - made me cringe). But here's the thing: the main character has a lot going on over the years the story covers (graduating from college and the next few years) and of course the side characters have a lot going on, too, because that's life. So it felt like Lee was trying to do the Dickens thing, with a hug
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Dec 01, 2007
Lisa
rated it:
finished this book--and, I think I finished it just so I could be really thorough in any descriptions of why I disliked it so much. Min Lee is writing in one of my favorite genres--something like the upward mobility/bildungsroman for the scholarship student, but that's about all that I find to recommend this book.
If I had to sum up quickly--this book takes itself REALLY seriously, and is INTENSELY UNHUMOROUS. Not that she has to be funny, necessarily, but this is also a book that me More...
If I had to sum up quickly--this book takes itself REALLY seriously, and is INTENSELY UNHUMOROUS. Not that she has to be funny, necessarily, but this is also a book that me More...
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Sep 18, 2007
Sarah
rated it:
There are two good things about Free Food for Millionaires: the title (taken from the free lunches offered to investment bankers) and the cover art. That's about it.
The remaining 500 pages drag through endless chapters of Casey and her acquaintances trying to get on with their lives. Some of the characters grow and learn over time but the main character, Casey, doesn't do a damn thing in this book. She's apparently good at investment banking and good at millinery (free food for mill More...
The remaining 500 pages drag through endless chapters of Casey and her acquaintances trying to get on with their lives. Some of the characters grow and learn over time but the main character, Casey, doesn't do a damn thing in this book. She's apparently good at investment banking and good at millinery (free food for mill More...
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Dec 25, 2007
Kate
rated it:
I don't know what to think about this book.
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 Charles Hong was simply not believable, nor was the constant drama and the fact that each and every person who suffered a horrible break up had attached themselves to someone else within days or hours. More...
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 Charles Hong was simply not believable, nor was the constant drama and the fact that each and every person who suffered a horrible break up had attached themselves to someone else within days or hours. More...
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Dec 17, 2009
Akemi
rated it: 
Really engaging and hard to put down. It follows the life of a Korean-American woman named Casey Han who has just graduated from Princeton. She has a lot of issues; her dad hits her and throws her out of the house within the first few pages, she has a Gatsby-esque complex with money (except that she doesn't make any), and she basically doesn't know what she wants to do in life. There are several secondary characters, and my favorite aspect of the book was that the author gets into every characte
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Jul 02, 2007
Sara
rated it:
A combination of chick-lit, a story of migration and generations, and a commentary on socioeconomic hierarchy (in the US and in Korea). That it takes place in NY and involves Korean culture makes it even more interesting for me.
It's true that Casey, the main character, makes one bad decision after another, and that makes me dislike her at times. But overall I think that this exemplifies a major strength of the book: it has a very sophisticated undercurrent of reality, where real pe More...
It's true that Casey, the main character, makes one bad decision after another, and that makes me dislike her at times. But overall I think that this exemplifies a major strength of the book: it has a very sophisticated undercurrent of reality, where real pe More...
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Mar 06, 2009
Dorothy
rated it:
Interesting characters but I found the author's writing style to be very annoying! I didn't like how she jumped from the thoughts of one character to another. Also thought her portrayal of her characters' stream of thoughts was extremely shallow.
Nov 19, 2010
Neronda
rated it:
La verità è che questo romanzo mi ha deluso un po'.
Ma in parte credo sia a causa delle aspettative falsate create dal packaging editoriale italiano.
Il romanzo ha il titolo originale di "Free food for millionaires", "Cibo gratis per milionari". In Italia viene tradotto con "Amore e pregiudizi", distorcendo completamente quello che è a mio avviso il tema centrale della storia: i soldi.
I soldi, il mercato, il valore delle cose e delle persone. Il gioco d'azzardo, lo sh More...
Ma in parte credo sia a causa delle aspettative falsate create dal packaging editoriale italiano.
Il romanzo ha il titolo originale di "Free food for millionaires", "Cibo gratis per milionari". In Italia viene tradotto con "Amore e pregiudizi", distorcendo completamente quello che è a mio avviso il tema centrale della storia: i soldi.
I soldi, il mercato, il valore delle cose e delle persone. Il gioco d'azzardo, lo sh More...
Jan 16, 2009
la
rated it:
Wow, it can be hard to see yourself in another person. Being Asian-American myself, reading this became something personal. I guess I could describe the experience as like an eye-opening cold shower.
There were some things I could relate to... I mean, aside from all the usual stuff? It definitely made me reflect on things about myself, and just how much us funny Asian-Americans, even with our different circumstances and backgrounds, tend to have in common. Reality can suck but Perspective More...
There were some things I could relate to... I mean, aside from all the usual stuff? It definitely made me reflect on things about myself, and just how much us funny Asian-Americans, even with our different circumstances and backgrounds, tend to have in common. Reality can suck but Perspective More...
Jan 15, 2009
Blaire
rated it:
It took a while for this book to grab me, but ultimately it did. Ordinarily I look for books with an unusual insight into the human condition or books that are highly imaginative. Sometimes I just appreciate a good story. This book falls into the latter category. Although well-written, it didn't cause me to swoon over the beauty of the language. Nonetheless, I found myself caught up by the story and caring what happened to the characters. The setting is contemporary New York, a community o
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Jan 19, 2012
Cara
rated it:
I was intrigued by this book as soon as I saw that it was about a Korean woman. (A possibly unhealthy attraction to everything from that country haunts me somewhat.) So, naturally, I borrowed my friend's copy, and read it.
The book was good, generally. I particularly liked the character of Ella, as she seemed most real to me, but all of the characters were very human in their reactions to various situations, something I thought was good.
What I picked up as the whole message More...
The book was good, generally. I particularly liked the character of Ella, as she seemed most real to me, but all of the characters were very human in their reactions to various situations, something I thought was good.
What I picked up as the whole message More...
Aug 16, 2011
Beth
rated it:
For starters, here is Amazon's review:
"Casey Han's four years at Princeton gave her many things, 'But no job and a number of bad habits.' Casey's parents, who live in Queens, are Korean immigrants working in a dry cleaner, desperately trying to hold on to their culture and their identity. Their daughter, on the other hand, has entered into rarified American society via scholarships. But after graduation, Casey sees the reality of having expensive habits without the means to sustai More...
"Casey Han's four years at Princeton gave her many things, 'But no job and a number of bad habits.' Casey's parents, who live in Queens, are Korean immigrants working in a dry cleaner, desperately trying to hold on to their culture and their identity. Their daughter, on the other hand, has entered into rarified American society via scholarships. But after graduation, Casey sees the reality of having expensive habits without the means to sustai More...
Aug 11, 2011
Sam
rated it:
To the extent that it portrays a certain Korean-American experience, it seems reasonable and authentic enough ...
[Spoilers coming]
Unfortunately, the main (only) plot device is the ubiquity of infidelity ... and when Casey's mom has relations with another man ... it's almost comic (pathetic) in a meta-narrative way ... a sort of over-the-top throw-in-the-kitchen-sink kind of thing.
The story seems to be a romance in a truly generic way ... while many of the characters find new partners by the end, More...
[Spoilers coming]
Unfortunately, the main (only) plot device is the ubiquity of infidelity ... and when Casey's mom has relations with another man ... it's almost comic (pathetic) in a meta-narrative way ... a sort of over-the-top throw-in-the-kitchen-sink kind of thing.
The story seems to be a romance in a truly generic way ... while many of the characters find new partners by the end, More...
Aug 01, 2011
I wanted to like this more than I did. It boasts accolades, a Junot Diaz summer reading list rec, and (most compelling for me) a sprawling Asian American/immigrant kid storyline. It explores some of my favorite themes of the moment: adultery/betrayal/healing/redemption, the divide between the well-off and the hard-knocked, loss of control, negotiation of whiteness and new worlds. (Really, it parallels the book that I'm trying to write. /gratuitous)
The structure didn't really work for m More...
The structure didn't really work for m More...
Dec 21, 2010
Shawanna
rated it:
Free Food for Millionaires explores what happens when a child of Korean immigrants, a child whose parents have scraped and scarificed so that she may attend one of the most prestigious universities in the country, decides not to "fufill her potential", get her graduate degree and work in a profession that will ensure she makes gobs of money. Unsure of what she wants to do with her life and after a huge fight with her father, which results in her getting kicked out of their house, she
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Nov 30, 2010
Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee, narrated by Shelly Frasier, produced by Tantor Media, downloaded from audible.com.
This is a debut novel, and very good. The protagonist, Casey Han, is the daughter of Korean immigrants. She was born in Korea but has spent all of her life in memory at least in the U.S. While her parents try to hold onto their culture and raise their two daughters in the Korean way, they both are influenced by the American way of life. Tina, the younger s More...
This is a debut novel, and very good. The protagonist, Casey Han, is the daughter of Korean immigrants. She was born in Korea but has spent all of her life in memory at least in the U.S. While her parents try to hold onto their culture and raise their two daughters in the Korean way, they both are influenced by the American way of life. Tina, the younger s More...
Sep 14, 2010
Victoria
rated it:
Perhaps it is my similar background and likeness to Casey Han that made the novel such an enjoyable and immersing read. I didn’t think she was an unlikable character, but a rather realistic portrayal of a struggling young woman. The reality of wanting too much and the confusion and indecisiveness of what to do with your life after college is a staple of American society today. All of the characters felt alive to me, full of feelings and motives that are hard to understand, characteristics that w
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Aug 02, 2010
Valerie
rated it:
Completely absorbing--I was eager to return to these characters each night as my treat after a long day. Loved the omniscient point of view; it's rare in the fiction I read that I can get inside the mind of each character, and so unlike my normal life where I only get to know what I'm thinking. The author moves so deftly between characters too, even within the same paragraph. I've read clunkier versions where each chapter heading is a new character and their voice alone, but Lee seamlessly shift
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(2 people liked it)
May 16, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
Most of my reading is contemporary lit fiction. Keeping that in mind, I disagree with allegations that this is chicklit or poorly written (which wasn't the view of the NYT Book Review either, btw). For me, this novel was thoroughly engaging--hard to put down, full of charm and wit, and rich with interesting interludes into characters' backgrounds. Yes, the way that it goes into those characters' backgrounds is modeled on 19th century novels, but I didn't find that dull -- for me, the book has
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Jan 31, 2010
Arachne8x
rated it:
I have gotten lucky, I've been reading a lot of great books in a row. I'm not just handing 4 star ratings out like it's going out of style.
This is definitely fiction directed at women readers. In the sense of Oprah book club selections. This book, much like Unaccustomed Earth, is about immigrants and their children. These families are from Korea. It's about wanting to preserve your family's culture but also wanting to give yourself and your family opportunities. It's about the k More...
This is definitely fiction directed at women readers. In the sense of Oprah book club selections. This book, much like Unaccustomed Earth, is about immigrants and their children. These families are from Korea. It's about wanting to preserve your family's culture but also wanting to give yourself and your family opportunities. It's about the k More...
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Oct 15, 2009
Mary
rated it:
Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee, 4+
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 to with her immigrant Korean parents who ran a laundry service in Manhattan. Through Casey's eye's we see New York as experienced by the poor and the rich. Casey is offered several divergent opport More...
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 to with her immigrant Korean parents who ran a laundry service in Manhattan. Through Casey's eye's we see New York as experienced by the poor and the rich. Casey is offered several divergent opport More...
