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Min Jin Lee named Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance as the book she wishes she could read again for the first time, in a Spotify interview shared with Good Housekeeping. She also recommended several other books and discussed her forthcoming novel, American Hagwon.
Author Min Jin Lee, best known for Pachinko, has named A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry as the book she wishes she could read again for the first time. Lee made the choice in a conversation with Spotify ahead of her forthcoming novel, American Hagwon; Spotify shared her selections with Good Housekeeping.
Lee described Mistry’s 1995 novel as a story that “just knocked me out” because of its account of four strangers brought together amid economic and political upheaval. The book is set in India in 1975, during a State of Emergency, and follows a widow, a student and two tailors who share a small apartment as they try to survive difficult circumstances. The tailors are fleeing caste violence.
Lee’s other recommendations included Middlemarch by George Eliot, which she said she would recommend to everyone. She also named Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë as the book she would give her younger self, V. S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas as the book that made her want to become a writer, and The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams as a book that reminds her of childhood.
The interview came as Lee prepares to publish American Hagwon, described in the source report as her first novel since Pachinko. The new book follows the middle-class Koh family through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, focusing on their sacrifices around immigration and education as they seek a future for their children. The source provides no publication date or further release details.
The Books Behind Lee’s Fiction
Lee’s choice offers readers a direct view of the qualities she values in fiction: individual lives shaped by larger political and economic forces. Her description of A Fine Balance focuses on people forced into a shared situation during a period of upheaval, rather than on a single character in isolation. That emphasis connects to the source report’s description of American Hagwon, which also places a family’s decisions within a wider economic crisis.
The recommendations also give readers a practical entry point into Lee’s literary influences. They span classic English-language novels, a modern novel set in India, and a children’s book. The interview does not establish that any one of these books directly shaped a particular scene or character in Lee’s work, but her comments explain what each title means to her as a reader and writer.
For readers waiting for American Hagwon, the news is a small but timely update around Lee’s return to fiction. The book list also stands on its own as a record of her stated recommendations, rather than a review of her new novel, whose plot and publication details remain limited in the supplied report.
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From Pachinko to American Hagwon
Pachinko tells a multi-generational story of a Korean family living in Japan, and the source report describes Lee’s forthcoming novel as another work concerned with family, hardship and historical conditions. It says American Hagwon follows the Koh family during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, with immigration and education central to their efforts to secure their children’s prospects.
The source characterizes American Hagwon as Lee’s first novel in nearly a decade after Pachinko. It also notes that Pachinko appears at No. 15 on The New York Times list of the 100 Best Books of the Century. That ranking is reported by Good Housekeeping; it is not a claim made by Lee in the interview excerpts provided.
Lee’s comments about Mistry’s novel are focused on the circumstances that bring its four characters together. A Fine Balance is set in India in 1975, while Lee’s next novel is described as taking place against the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The titles are distinct works set in different countries and periods; the shared point in the source is their attention to people facing hardship amid broader upheaval.
““That book just knocked me out in terms of what happens when you have four strangers almost forced to live together in a kind of global economic and political crisis.””
— Min Jin Lee, speaking to Spotify
Release Details Still Missing
The supplied report does not give a specific interview date, a publication date for American Hagwon, or details such as its publisher, length or format. It describes the book’s premise but does not provide a complete plot summary or direct comments from Lee about how the novel was written.
The report says Spotify shared Lee’s selections with Good Housekeeping, but it does not include a full transcript or recording of the conversation. The quotations here are limited to the excerpts reproduced in that report. No information in the source confirms how the book recommendations were selected beyond Lee’s stated answers to the interview prompts.
Awaiting American Hagwon’s Publication
The next confirmed milestone in the supplied material is the release of Lee’s forthcoming novel, American Hagwon, but no date is provided. Further announcements from Lee, her publisher or booksellers would be needed to establish when readers can expect the book and to confirm additional publication information.
Until then, Lee’s interview gives readers a set of titles she has personally recommended, led by A Fine Balance as her choice for a book she would like to experience anew. The source does not report any further appearances, events or updates tied to the novel.
Key Questions
Which book does Min Jin Lee wish she could read again for the first time?
Lee chose A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry’s 1995 novel set in India during the 1975 State of Emergency.
Why did Lee choose A Fine Balance?
She said its story of four strangers nearly forced to live together amid economic and political crisis “just knocked me out.”
What other books did Lee recommend?
She named Middlemarch by George Eliot, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul and The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, each in response to a different prompt.
What is Min Jin Lee’s next novel about?
The source describes American Hagwon as following the Koh family through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, as they make sacrifices connected to immigration and education for their children’s future. A release date is not provided.
Source: rss
