Reviews for Free Food for Millionaires

The average rating for Free Food for Millionaires based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-03-04 00:00:00 Arron Downes 3.5 stars While not as iconic as her sophomore novel Pachinko , Min Jin Lee's literary debut Free Food for Millionaires still stands as an important and entertaining read with a wide cast of characters. As a couple other reviews on Goodreads noted, you might have to be Asian - and more specifically, a child of immigrants - to fully appreciate the themes and events Lee portrays in this novel. Through her characters, she portrays complex Asian American family dynamics as well as the fight for upward mobility imposed on and embarked upon by so many immigrants in the United States. Indeed, one of the most admirable themes in Free Food for Millionaires was money, capitalism, and the extent to which characters cut down others and/or parts of themselves for monetary wealth. Similar to her work Pachinko, Lee also provides insightful commentary on issues of gender, showing the suffering and resilience of Asian American women in particular. She does not hesitate to highlight the racism of white men and the misogyny of men in general, which I appreciate. I leaned toward giving this book three stars because its middle dragged with some narratives I found unnecessary or too long, but a couple of brilliant scenes related to gender and fighting sexism toward the end of the novel pulled it up to four. And while the characters in Free Food for Millionaires did not blow me away, I found Casey's characterization consistent, nuanced, and well-written, so fitting for such a protagonist who is so distinctly her own. Overall, recommended if the blurb intrigues you and you do not mind a long book. We need more Asian American writers like Min Jin Lee so I am very excited for what she will release next.

Review # 2 was written on 2007-07-20 00:00:00 Charles Mccormack 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 all in the name of independence, she never quite manages to make it on her own. She falls back on her new best friend, men, and Sabine all throughout the story. In the end, despite $23,000 in credit card debt and an even larger student loan, she ends up with literally nothing thanks to her gambling, evicted ex-boyfriend. This book also gives an outsider a glimpse inside homes and relationships of Korean-Americans. This is the first Korean-American book I have read and now I would like to read more. I also hope to have the chance to read more from Ms. Lee in the future.