American Han

A Novel

By: Lisa Lee

Narrated by: Katharine Chin

In this captivated novel, a young Korean American woman attempts to distance herself from her family in order to forge an authentic future—but a violent act forces her to see that she’ll always be implicated with their actions and they with hers.

"A pulsating signal from the liminal zone where the American dream meets the American nightmare." —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer

Jane and her brother Kevin Kim embody the model minority myth until both depart from the path: Jane drops out of law school without telling her parents, and her brother Kevin gives up his promising tennis career and cuts himself off from the family. Their parents feel equally lost in a country that claims to support them and yet in which they can find no place. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is, until it erupts in a moment that indicts them all.

Both deeply serious and absurdly funny, American Han is a story about striving and assimilation, difficult love, and family fidelity. A searing and probing portrait that challenges assumptions about the immigrant experience, Lisa Lee's debut introduces a powerful new voice on the literary landscape.

"A fantastic sleight-of-hand. Lee makes us look one way while all sorts of stuff comes into focus around us. This is a novel about a singular and eccentric family but yields understanding about so much more. A beautiful, important novel that will leave a mark." —Percival Everett, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of James

Critic reviews

"Tone perfect. To say that this book is smart is an understatement. The whole performs as a fantastic sleight-of-hand. Lee makes us look one way while all sorts of stuff comes into focus around us. This is a novel about a singular and eccentric family but yields understanding about so much more. Large issues abound here. This is a beautiful, important novel that will leave a mark."—Percival Everett, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of James

"AMERICAN HAN is a pulsating signal from the liminal zone where the American dream meets the American nightmare. It’s an SOS from the so-called good immigrants, dwelling in this zone where only their successes are visible but not their distresses. In this deeply perceptive novel, Lisa Lee excels at rolling up the sleeves of those immigrants and revealing the cuts and wounds, inflicted by others…and by themselves."—Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer

Overwritten and Overwrought

The premise is indeed thought provoking, a dysfunctional Korean American family struggling against stereotypes, but the author descends into worn- out tropes and then uses them again and again. Reviews mention “humorous” characterizations, but I found them cringe-worthy. The book needed a thorough editing.

A bland book

I tried to get into this book for several chapters. Just found it plodded with no particular spark a downer,