BOOK SECTION
Praise for "EVERYTHING ASIAN"
“A novel that both delights and instructs.”
--Kirkus, starred review
“Told in sharp, immediate vignettes, mostly from the boy’s viewpoint, this
debut novel captures the contemporary immigration struggle, but it is also an elemental family drama of fury and tenderness, affecting all the characters.”
--Booklist
“Woo eschews immigrant clichés to focus on complicated familial relationships and surprising, sympathetic characters; alternating between humor and
melancholy, Woo's text strikes a true chord while drawing readers into its strange, strip-mall world.”
--Publisher’s Weekly
“A standout. Full of wit, humor, and heart.”
-- Chicago Sun-Times, a Chicago Sun-Times Favorite Book of the Year
“Everything Asian has a tenderness underlying the humor and its characters are complicatedly human.”
-- The Christian Science Monitor
“A wonderful debut novel about the birth and growing pains of today's new Americans. Woo's marvelous characters embody truth, tenderness and
yearning.”
---Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food for Millionaires
“In its clear-eyed take on family and community, Everything Asian is Everything American. The proprietors of this roadside New Jersey shopper's village
are by turns dreamy and despairing as their fortunes---like the local economy---change. Sung J. Woo has crafted a debut rich in character and event.”
---Stewart O’Nan, author of Songs for the Missing
“Lovely . . . explores the sweetness and pain of family life, the awkward glory of growing up. Everything Asian glows with delicacy, compassion, and wit.”
---Brian Morton, author of PEN/Faulkner Award finalist
Starting Out in the Evening
“Wise, unsparing, poignant, devastating, funny: a remarkable novel.”
---Chuck Wachtel, author of PEN/Hemingway Citation
winner Joe the Engineer
“Funny, smart and affecting . . . takes on the heartbreak of being the less than ideal Korean American immigrant with a laugh. Sung J. Woo shows himself
to be an astute satirist.”
---Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh
_______________________________________________________________________
“A novel that both delights and instructs.”
--Kirkus, starred review
“Told in sharp, immediate vignettes, mostly from the boy’s viewpoint, this
debut novel captures the contemporary immigration struggle, but it is also an elemental family drama of fury and tenderness, affecting all the characters.”
--Booklist
“Woo eschews immigrant clichés to focus on complicated familial relationships and surprising, sympathetic characters; alternating between humor and
melancholy, Woo's text strikes a true chord while drawing readers into its strange, strip-mall world.”
--Publisher’s Weekly
“A standout. Full of wit, humor, and heart.”
-- Chicago Sun-Times, a Chicago Sun-Times Favorite Book of the Year
“Everything Asian has a tenderness underlying the humor and its characters are complicatedly human.”
-- The Christian Science Monitor
“A wonderful debut novel about the birth and growing pains of today's new Americans. Woo's marvelous characters embody truth, tenderness and
yearning.”
---Min Jin Lee, author of Free Food for Millionaires
“In its clear-eyed take on family and community, Everything Asian is Everything American. The proprietors of this roadside New Jersey shopper's village
are by turns dreamy and despairing as their fortunes---like the local economy---change. Sung J. Woo has crafted a debut rich in character and event.”
---Stewart O’Nan, author of Songs for the Missing
“Lovely . . . explores the sweetness and pain of family life, the awkward glory of growing up. Everything Asian glows with delicacy, compassion, and wit.”
---Brian Morton, author of PEN/Faulkner Award finalist
Starting Out in the Evening
“Wise, unsparing, poignant, devastating, funny: a remarkable novel.”
---Chuck Wachtel, author of PEN/Hemingway Citation
winner Joe the Engineer
“Funny, smart and affecting . . . takes on the heartbreak of being the less than ideal Korean American immigrant with a laugh. Sung J. Woo shows himself
to be an astute satirist.”
---Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh
_______________________________________________________________________
Everything Asian
By Sung J. Woo
Imagine that a month has passed since your flight from Korea has landed in Newark Airport. Your mother
and sister are miserable. You are seeing your dad for the first time in five years, and you think that he’s a
loser. Welcome to the world of David Kim.
For the first time in paperback, EVERYTHING ASIAN by SUNG J. WOO weaves together two compelling
stories: a drama/comedy of the Kim family, reunited for the first time in America, and the tale
of Peddlers Town, a depressed, second-class mall where the Kims have their store.
Set in early-1980’s suburban New Jersey, EVERYTHING ASIAN is narrated by 12-year-old David Kim, who
details the family’s first year in the U.S. together with equal amounts of humor and pathos. David can’t
speak English, but that doesn’t stop him from working at East Meets West, his father’s gift shop. Between
dealing with competition at the mall and trying to make new friends, celebrating a birthday at a bowling
alley and cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving, the Kims try to understand what it means to be a family in their
new country.
While David’s observations take center stage, they alternate with chapters told from different
perspectives, including the other members of the Kim clan and the various merchants in the mall. These
multiple points of view flesh out the picture of life at Peddlers Town as well as show the Kims through
outsider’s eyes, offering a broadened understanding of the family.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SUNG J. WOO's short stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, McSweeney’s, and
KoreAm Journal. His short film was an audience choice screening of the NYC Downtown Short Film
Festival 2008. A graduate of Cornell University with an MFA from New York University, he lives in
Washington, New Jersey. Visit his Web site at www.sungjwoo.com.
By Sung J. Woo
Imagine that a month has passed since your flight from Korea has landed in Newark Airport. Your mother
and sister are miserable. You are seeing your dad for the first time in five years, and you think that he’s a
loser. Welcome to the world of David Kim.
For the first time in paperback, EVERYTHING ASIAN by SUNG J. WOO weaves together two compelling
stories: a drama/comedy of the Kim family, reunited for the first time in America, and the tale
of Peddlers Town, a depressed, second-class mall where the Kims have their store.
Set in early-1980’s suburban New Jersey, EVERYTHING ASIAN is narrated by 12-year-old David Kim, who
details the family’s first year in the U.S. together with equal amounts of humor and pathos. David can’t
speak English, but that doesn’t stop him from working at East Meets West, his father’s gift shop. Between
dealing with competition at the mall and trying to make new friends, celebrating a birthday at a bowling
alley and cooking a turkey on Thanksgiving, the Kims try to understand what it means to be a family in their
new country.
While David’s observations take center stage, they alternate with chapters told from different
perspectives, including the other members of the Kim clan and the various merchants in the mall. These
multiple points of view flesh out the picture of life at Peddlers Town as well as show the Kims through
outsider’s eyes, offering a broadened understanding of the family.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SUNG J. WOO's short stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, McSweeney’s, and
KoreAm Journal. His short film was an audience choice screening of the NYC Downtown Short Film
Festival 2008. A graduate of Cornell University with an MFA from New York University, he lives in
Washington, New Jersey. Visit his Web site at www.sungjwoo.com.