![]() ![]() When you’re an artist, people think that you work for yourself but when you write something you need to have a huge distribution channel. I know that you speak up also as a leader. I’m sure your publishers get nervous when you speak up on things that are fairly controversial. You’re so unusual in that you are willing to use the platform you have as an incredibly successful writer for the benefit of the larger community, particularly the Asian American community. It used to be called “Motherland,” and it took me from 2007 until 2017. ![]() And then after I moved to Japan in 2007, I started to rewrite “Pachinko” all over again. “ Free Food for Millionaires” was the third novel that I finished but it was the first that I published. There was another novel called the “Revival of the Senses” which will never see the light of day because again, it was deplorable. “Pachinko” was the first novel that I worked on but the first version was terrible so I couldn’t publish it. I got the idea for “Pachinko” when I was 19, and I published it when I was 48. Can you write a note to my publisher as to why my third book is so late because I’m sure they’d believe you? Tell us about the long process that it took to arrive at your success. Many people in the audience, because they saw you suddenly rise to amazing heights as the writer of “Pachinko”, think that you somehow cranked out this novel and became an overnight sensation. So I thought I’ll quit being a lawyer and I’ll write an amazing novel right away and make $83,000 a year, which is what I made as a first-year associate. I thought that writing a book couldn’t be that difficult. I’ve always written and I’m a huge reader. How did you arrive at wanting to be a writer? So I was wrong that being a writer was going to be easy. It ended up taking 11 years of my life to publish one book. It was doable but it was hard because I thought I could publish my book right away. My husband had health insurance, and we had enough money to get by. But because I had a liver disease, which I had for a long time and which I don’t have anymore, I think my parents were relieved that I wasn’t going to drop dead in the office. I handed in my notice and my parents were kind of worried. I told my partner I couldn’t do this anymore, and I quit. One month I billed 300 hours, and I finished a big assignment and gave it to my partner, who then gave me even more work. I was that low-level fastidious grunt you needed on your deal. I would work day in and day out and never stop because I was good at writing those due diligence memos. I was actually a good due diligence associate so many of the law firm partners would hand me piles and piles and piles of work. What was the impetus behind the change and what was it like switching to a completely different profession? I’m sure your parents were worried about whether you could survive as a writer. So at some point, you decided law wasn’t it and you wanted to become a writer. I wore those two suits every day of that summer.Īre you kidding? One! But we all have stories like that when you come from a family that didn’t give advice on simple things like that.ĭon’t you feel grateful though? I remember when I was younger, I had one winter coat and later, when I had a couple of winter coats, I felt rich because I had more than one. I soon realized that I was the only male in the entire law firm, including the guy who stuffed envelopes into the mailboxes, without a full suit and tie on.ĭid you go out and buy one? I did! I called my mom and she went to Syms that very day and bought a blue suit and a gray suit. I walked into the office of this big law firm in Philly with my best clothes on, which in my case happened to be a blue blazer and gray pants. That reminds me of my first internship after starting law school. I recall a few jerks but I suppose we all have had that. Even things like what to wear or what to say. Fortunately, I went to college and law school with a lot of elite people so I knew how to act the part but it wasn’t natural to me. When you are a child of shopkeepers and all of the sudden, you become a white-collar worker in a big fancy office, it’s a different culture. How much of a challenge did that present? But your path from there to Yale and to law school and then to becoming a lawyer is a little less common. Such a great story because so many Asian American immigrants share a similar history. ![]()
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