The work is political, too. After World War II, where the American victory was obvious and its moral standing was unambiguous, the public needed coaxing to buy into the idea of this one. In Los Angeles, as Park details in her 2017 book Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism, and Riots, Korean-Americans had faced discrimination from … Along with learning this family history, it was the study of poetry that allowed Koh to process the past, to learn magnanimity and how to forgive. Park is a researcher at the YOK Center, filmmaker, and former award-winning journalist whose memoir captures the Korean American life and perspective with honesty, he said. We see my mother not only in her role as a mother, but as who she was as a daughter herself. Dancing proved a reprieve. This is heavy stuff from a young woman writing about her own family, but then Koh has a lot to digest in her story of intergenerational trauma and growing up in America without parents. See more ideas about memoirs, korean american, books. Most of Korean-American children come to our Koran school to learn Korean language and culture. uses sepia tones for recollections of her family's history in Korea. I spent the whole day with my sister, I saw my book out on bookstore shelves, I ate delicious home-cooked Korean food for dinner, I went for two good long walks, and my inbox is filled with messages from fellow adoptees. Memoir of a Cashier is more than just a description of young girl's life growing up while working in a bulletproof cashier's booth in Compton, California. In this heartfelt tale of family, food, grief and endurance, Zauner shares her life journey full of highs and lows. E.J. Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America, by Mary Paik Lee Born in 1900, Lee’s aristocratic Christian family fled Korea in 1905 , fearful of the plight of their famiy with Japan’s growing political influence and imminent colonial takeover. She depicts the life of her paternal grandmother, Kumiko, who cannot forgive her own mother for sending Kumiko’s father back into the crosshairs during the Jeju Island Massacre in the late 1940s, where he would be stoned to death. Both, in a way, attempt the same feat: one for languages, the other for experiences and feelings. Park tells the story of the Korean American experience leading up to and after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Never bleak or uncomfortably exhibitionist, “The Magical Language of Others” succeeds entertainingly in what good memoirs do: Help us understand different journeys in the vast sea that we all float on. Japan extends travel restrictions and tightens quarantine measures, Harvard astronomer argues that alien vessel paid us a visit, Japan is moving closer to vaccinations: Here's how the rollout will work. Park tells the story of the Korean American experience leading up to and after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. On a cold fall day a few years back, E.J. “The present is the revenge of the past,” is how E.J. She immediately recognized the envelopes’ unmistakable red and blue airmail borders. Seattle writer pens moving memoir about Korean immigrant experience. The book follows Adams's youth in Memphis, Tennessee through his time in the Korean War as a POW and his return to Memphis with his Chinese wife and children. Almost American Girl is a beautiful graphic novel by Robin Ha that details her transition from South Korea to the United States in her middle school years.Following her mother’s unexpected announcement that she is remarrying, Chuna (later taking the American name Robin) is thrown into a new life across the globe that is different than anything she could have expected. Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism, and Riots by Carol Park Publisher: The Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at the University of California Riverside Paperback ISBN #: 978-0-9982-9570-1 Hardcover ISBN #: 978-0-9982-9571-8 … It was her first lesson in poetry (from her first mentor back in high school) that provided the key: write “with magnanimity.”. This book goes in-depth in explaining exactly how this occurred through propaganda, politics, and more. “I’m still forgiving her,” Koh says, now 32 years old. It is the story of grandmother Kumiko that adds historical perspective to the memoir. “I had to go back to therapy and try and figure out what to do next. Battling depression and muddling through school in a daze, Koh received regular letters from her mother, dispatches from a foreign country that were written in childlike Korean (“mommy has it so good”). Oct 8, 2018 | Career | 0 . Park, a Korean American studies researcher, published a memoir. The publication of Yeen Myung Chang’s autobiography is a noteworthy occasion for those of us who desire to make stories of earlier Korean immigrants more available not only to our young readers of Korean ancestry in America, but also to the general readers in broader American society. Visit. For me, it’s not a one-time thing. Published by the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at UCRiverside. The Japan Times LTD. All rights reserved. I have a hard time with the rare Asian American sitcom on offer, since they are so pandering and full of cute banter. “It was better to pay for your children than to stay with them,” she writes in the early pages of the book. It was nine years before the family reunited. As the government suppressed a communist-linked insurgency — “the country sliced down the middle like a walnut cake,” writes Koh — grandmother Kumiko witnessed bloodshed that pit Koreans against Koreans, her own father killed cruelly in a stoning. "Add the twin mystique to a drug-fueled reality drama and you’ve got the recipe for double the intoxicating read in Christa Parravani’s memoir, Her, a sister book.Parravani offers a sinuous, startling, and intimate look at what it means to be share someone’s DNA by playing on the reader’s fantasies and stereotypes: confirming some—think Doublemint Gum commercials, Mary Kate … At 17, Koh joined a Los Angeles-based professional hip-hop dance crew that competed statewide. What she’s learned: Understanding and forgiveness don’t come easy. This title is scheduled to arrive on April 20, 2021. NOT YET AVAILABLE. “What I’m doing as a translator is being aware of how much am I erasing the language from which I’m translating in order to have it as accessible and as seamlessly perfect and readable in the English.”. Reluctant Korean-American veteran Young Chun stands before a statue of Korea's greatest hero, the 16th century tactical genius Admiral Yi Sun-shin, in central Seoul. ... "Chung, herself a Korean-American adoptee, takes us on a journey to uncover the truth about her birth family that coincides with the birth of her own child. He started out angry, depressed, and given to manic episodes and suicidal thoughts, and initially, he admits, not such a great cook. “The experiences of my childhood may be unique, but the emotions are universal. We have a Korean adoptee’s class too. Memoir of a Cashier is more than just a description of young girl's life growing up while working in a bulletproof cashier's booth in Compton, California. Younghill Kang (June 5, 1898 — December 2, 1972, Korean name 강용흘) was an important early Asian American writer. Social. Cart All. Graduating college aimless and depressed, he fled the States for Japan, hoping to find some sense of belonging. Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir By Robin Ha Published by HarperCollins Publishers ISBN-13: 9780062685094 Age Range: 13+ Find a copy at Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Worldcat “A poignant and unvarnished depiction of immigration—both the heartache and the rewards.” —School Library Journal Description For as long as she can remember, it’s been Robin and her … (Her mother says she’s 33, following the lunar calendar.) Michelle Zauner’s memoir, Crying in H Mart, tells the story of Zauner’s upbringing as a Korean-American. After the unfortunate loss of her mother, Zauner had to figure out her identity and her place in society. Parents need to know that Almost American Girl is a graphic memoir of 14-year-old South Korean teen Chuna trying to adapt to a strange new existence in Alabama after her single mother marries. Forever Alien: A Korean Memoir by Sunny Che. It’s a memoir written about how Ben (Waspy Bostonian white boy), his wife Gab (first generation Korean), and his mother-in-law (Korean immigrant) decide to open a Korean deli in the middle of a gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn. by Margo Vansynghel / … Translating Korean into English is transforming a historically nondominant language into a historically dominant one. I couldn’t even read them right away.”. The memoir is about growing up Korean-American, losing her mother, and “searching for identity in a hybrid culture” By Matthew Straus s and Noah Yo o. February 28, 2019. In this heartfelt tale of family, food, grief and endurance, Zauner shares her life journey full of highs and lows. Not the Korean her parents spoke at home. For years, the letters had been buried in this box — and the back of Koh’s mind. Interspersed with historical information, this memoir recounts the trials of a young Korean girl growing up in Japan during Japan’s occupation of Korea, through liberation and the beginning of the Korean War. Get it as soon as Fri, Jan 15. memoir definition: 1. a book or other piece of writing based on the writer's personal knowledge of famous people…. Koh’s ‘The Magical Language of Others’ has won a 2021 Pacific Northwest Book Award. A Memoir by Jenna: The Story of a Korean American Adoptee By: Jenna Simpson. Memoir of a Cashier is more than just a description of a young girl's life growing up while working in a bulletproof cashier's booth in Compton, California. Koh’s ‘The Magical Language of Others’ has won a 2021 Pacific Northwest Book Award. 4.3 out of 5 stars 11. From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. “It means that these feelings can exist alongside the feelings of others. Thank you God that you made me 3rd-Gen Korean-American. Now she seeks to give voice to the Korean American community both then and now. You know to live all you can and always boldly, right?” she translates. She translated all 49 letters into English and used them as the skeleton for her brief, but time- and continent-spanning memoir, The Magical Language of Others, published in early 2020 with Portland publisher Tin House. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. Koh also included scanned originals of the letters in the book, showing her mother’s neat handwriting and funny drawings, her parentheses with sometimes wrong English translations. 6 reviews Author Carol Park grew up in Los Angeles County during the 1980s and 1990s, a time of ethnic strife. How to say memoir. Receive latest stories and local news in your email: Please take a second to review our community guidelines, Vancouver poet collaborates with high school artists in book of poetry about poverty, Older adults without family or friends lag in race to get vaccines, Insurrection aftermath: Staffers struggle with trauma, guilt and fear. Riots By Bettye Miller on February 10, 2017 Carol K. Park, a researcher at the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies, has published a book, “Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism and Riots.” A book signing is scheduled Feb. 21. 1-Gen = Born and raised in Korea, moved to America (most Asian parents). I miss her even as I’m telling you this,” she says. Paperback, 172 Pages (1 Ratings) Preview. But then, I’m of the extreme opinion that a real show about a Korean family—at least the kind I grew up around—is un- televisable. In Crying in H Mart, her upcoming memoir, Zauner links together that grief with her love of Korean food, and the isolation of growing up Korean-American in a small, overwhelming white Oregon town. 2-Gen = You’re the first generation of your family… If you're not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site. NOTE: if you’re a 3rd-Gen and you are … Her struggles contrasted with the often upbeat tone and “kiddie diction” of her mother’s letters, amplifying her pain. “I wanted to translate [the letters] in a way that, even if you read the English, you’re going to read the Korean because of the rhythm, the tempo,” she says. Titled "Not Forgotten: The True Story of My Imprisonment in North Korea," the book is out on May 3, according to publisher HarperCollins. Memoir of a Cashier. Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism, and Riots: Park, Carol: Amazon.nl Selecteer uw cookievoorkeuren We gebruiken cookies en vergelijkbare tools om uw winkelervaring te verbeteren, onze services aan te bieden, te begrijpen hoe klanten onze services gebruiken zodat we verbeteringen kunnen aanbrengen, en om advertenties weer te geven. And how did she avoid the curse of the memoirist, the danger of self-absorption? Park tells the story of the Korean American experience leading up to and after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Note: release dates and prices are tentative. “I didn’t know what to do with them…. It wasn’t just an emotional challenge, says Koh, who also works as a literary translator. Later the family moved to Jeju Island, only to get caught up in another massacre in spring 1948. Thank you for the kind and wonderful notes and photos and shares today. Raw emotions are pouring out in two different forms, from the Morning Glory stationery papers filled from top to bottom in bubbly Korean to Koh’s beautiful yet horrific imagery-filled writing. Writer and illustrator Robin Ha recounts her experience as a lonely teen, one who eventually learned to belong by concentrating on her art. Koh opens her memoir, “The Magical Language of Others,” which was published last month. A Korean War Memoir of Fighting in the U.S. Army's Last All Negro Unit. A memoir published in 1959, it offers plenty of cultural details and insight that are still used today in research. “I remember looking inside and knowing exactly what they were,” Koh says. It doesn’t demand perfect English,” she explains. Rich language describes a Korean-Japanese-American former WWII medic living quietly in Connecticut in a small provincial town. While it was never a secret that I was adopted, it was easier for me to believe that my life began not in the distant city of Pusan, South Korea, but instead in an airport terminal. Nicole Chung’s Memoir on Growing up an Adopted Korean American. Your Email . The book will be available for purchase after Feb. 21, 2017 and on BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com in late March. For the serious and casual reader of modern Korean-American history in the post war era, Memoir of a Cashier is a must read. “Poetry doesn’t demand grammar. Upending stereotypes of Asian self-sacrifice, her parents abandoned their teenage daughter and son — “better to pay for your children than to stay with them” — to enjoy more comfortable lives in Seoul, all “confident with tall backs from splendored living.” Alone and adrift for the next seven years, Koh and her brother had to raise each other through their formative years. With its evocative prose and personal and historical honesty, “The Magical Language of Others” may help extend this forgiveness to healing beyond her own family, into a larger societal realm. Mar 24, 2016 - Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, recently freed from two years in jail in North Korea, is publishing a memoir about his ordeal, VOA reported on Wednesday. Now she seeks to give voice to the Korean American community both then and now. Some days, it’s easy. UCLA Library. And so Koh travels back in time, tracing the stories of her grandmothers and their mothers as they survive war, genocide, abuse and impossible choices. With the sparse precision of a poet using brief, filmic scenes, Koh gives contemporary life to her parent’s past choices, and the conundrum she says they shared with other immigrant families. Born to Korean parents in 1923 in Tokyo, Kumiko learned later about her ethnicity. By the time the book ends on a note of forgiveness, her lyrical prose has taken the reader from the horrors of her own suicidal thoughts in adolescence to her grandmother surviving the Jeju Island massacre in South Korea. My father flew with a briefcase, so he could go to work as soon as he landed,” she writes. ... Chung, who is Korean American, has written many essays on race and adoption in the past. Tokyo Olympic head Yoshiro Mori says he won't resign despite uproar over sexist remark. by Curtis “Kojo” Morrow | Feb 1, 1997. A soft thud took her by surprise. SHARE. She’s pursuing the topic academically, as well as creatively, currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Washington on intergenerational trauma throughout Korean and Korean American history, literature, and film. “The present is the revenge of the past,” is how E.J. 5. “There is a Korean belief that you are born the parent of the one you hurt most.”. This “seamless” approach didn’t feel right for her mother’s letters. “Memoir of a Cashier” is the second publication of the YOK Center and features an emerging voice in the field of Korean American Studies, Chang said. He is best known for his 1931 novel The Grass Roof (the first Korean American novel) and its sequel, the 1937 fictionalized memoir East Goes West: The Making of an Oriental Yankee. “It said something along the lines of: As human beings, we can never perfectly understand one another, even within one language,” she says. In this collection of essays, Cathy Park Hong blends memoir and cultural exploration to examine what it is to be Asian American in the 21st century. Chang grew up the youngest son of a deeply religious Korean American family in Virginia. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. I have a hard time with the rare Asian American sitcom on offer, since they are so pandering and full of cute banter. Koh made a startling discovery. That, it turns out, is kind of a lifetime project. From graphic memoirs to romance novels, these books discuss identity and the role of AAPI people in America. The Language of Blood: A Memoir by Jane Jeong Trenka September 19, 2008 Using a variety of styles and narratives, Korean adoptee Trenka tells of her experience surviving a violent stalking in Minnesota, as well as her coming of age with racism, going to Korea to find her mother who soon died with cancer, an older sister, and ultimately, love. November 20, 2007 . Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. “My pretty Eun Ji. Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism, and Riots: Park, Carol: Amazon.sg: Books. As memoir writing continues to grow in popularity, the challenge remains for authors to strike universal chords with experiences that are, at heart, intensely personal. And not English, the language she was pushed toward “for survival,” but still feels somewhat deficient in. Author Carol Park grew up in Los Angeles during the 1980s and 1990s, a time of ethnic strife. “Languages have their own history, and their histories have relationships with one another,” she says. While unpacking after a cross-country move to Seattle, she found a clear plastic box filled with bright pink tissue paper. How she longed for her mother and continues longing for her to this day.”. Paperback $19.99 $ 19. Probeer FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. (Though be warned, it is a little didactic, often pushing a Christian agenda to its readers.) “Eun Ji must be happy so Mommy can be happy.”, The process of translating these letters, Koh tells me during a recent phone interview from her West Seattle home, was “so, so hard — and at times unbearable.”. “I couldn’t dance. Memoir of former North Korean medical student separated by Korean War from his family. A high school poetry class in a campus trailer (and a few teachers who recognized her talent) changed her life. She faces racial prejudice, poverty and the mother dies from gangrene. Memoir Illuminates Korean American Experience Carol K. Park’s “Memoir of a Cashier” is set against the backdrop of the L.A. 21 Years of Wisdom: One Man's Extraordinary Odyssey in Japan Fiction Korean War Books “This larger view of a family history can avoid venting, because of the awareness of each daughter’s trauma taught by their mother’s trauma. Still, she is very close with her mother, who lives in Tacoma. The coronavirus has interrupted their customary visits. She struggled to eat, skipped school, dreamed of making herself vanish. Not the Japanese of her grandmother, which was somewhat of a forbidden language at home because of Japan’s violent history with Korea. American leaders knew this and worked hard to present a clear-cut, victorious picture of what was going on in Korea to garner support. Seattle writer pens moving memoir about Korean immigrant experience E.J. This heartfelt memoir from an author who shares her honest, personal experiences excels at showing how Ha navigated Asian American identity and the bonds between mother and daughter. STAY CONNECTED. “Being in a state of constant searching,” Koh recalls, “what the dance crew gave me was as close to family as possible at the time.”, Her dance dream ended abruptly when her grandmother Kumiko, who had partly raised her in the U.S., passed away. Other days, well, I have to be kinder to myself on those days,” Koh says. Related. Pre-order now. “Unlike an autobiography, I feel that a memoir can be captured by a handful of years, by its brevity and its incompleteness,” says Koh, who has published a collection of poetry and is completing her doctorate at the University of Washington. It deals heavily with race relations in the South in both the 1930s and 1940s of Adams's youth and following his return to the US in 1966 during the Civil Rights Movement as well as the red scare of the Cold War . She went on to earn a double master’s in translation and poetry at Columbia University in New York. She writes about her maternal grandmother Jun, who left her daughter as a young girl in Daejon to escape her marriage. Nicole Chung’s Memoir on Growing up an Adopted Korean American. Mail Navigate; Linked Data; Dashboard; Tools / Extras; Stats; Share . MY STORY. This memoir is a love story between mother and daughter who are pulled apart geographically and by language. Americans would be both bored and appalled. I have many connections of Korean American Societies in the United States and in Korea as well. In The Magical Language of Others, Koh builds upon this idea by tracing her family history, as if the key to understanding her mother — if not forgiving her — lies there. I always knew, whether or not I could articulate it at the time of writing, that I must complete the book. And that’s sort of where poetry came in.”. Employing soft and subdued coloring for the majority of the work, Ha (Cook Korean!, 2016, etc.) Bitter Wind (Korean): A Memoir of the Korean War (Korean Edition) by Hui Chae Lee | Aug 18, 2012. South Korean history personified … Ko Un. As her mom describes life in Korea, pleads for forgiveness and dispenses life lessons, one thing is remarkably absent: a response. Through the sense of guilt that emerges through these missives, Koh eventually moves toward reconciliation. Bae was arrested in 2012. Early twentieth-century Korean-American writers such as Younghill Kang, Ilhan New, and Easurk Emsen Charr focused on writing memoirs or autobiographical fiction about childhoods spent in Korea, immigration, and trying to assimilate into American society. But then, I’m of the extreme opinion that a real show about a Korean family—at least the kind I grew up around—is un- televisable. As a teen, Koh would read them in the bedroom of a quiet house on a cul-de-sac in Davis, California. “The language that I feel the most at home [in] is poetry,” Koh says. Services . D.Gartrell . Park tells the story of the Korean American experience leading up to and after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. How to pronounce memoir. After a year of anxiety, what can we expect from the Year of the Ox in 2021? The magical language of others doesn’t just refer to different tongues, but also experiences. After the Great Kanto Earthquake, when false rumors blamed Koreans for arson and Japanese mobs killed 6,000 of them, the family tried desperately to pass as Japanese, at pains to erase their Korean accent. Korean Americans (Korean: 한국계 미국인; Hanja: 韓國系美國人; RR: Hangukgye Migugin) are Americans of Korean ancestry (predominantly from South Korea (99%), with a very small minority from North Korea, China, Japan and the Post-Soviet states).The Korean American community constitutes about 0.6% of the United States population, or about 1.8 million people, and is the … As is reconciling with her mom. Jan 30, 2019 - Books by, for and about Korea and Korean Americans. Skip to main content.sg. Only 2 left in stock (more on the way). During their nine years of separation, Koh never wrote back. Such a deep dive into family relations takes courage, and some readers may wonder how much Koh worried about reactions both from her family and the Korean-American community; a bad motivation for writing a memoir is the desire to vent or get even with those you believe have wronged you. The moving memoir recently won a 2021 Pacific Northwest Book Award, and Koh, who is based in Seattle, is also up for a national Pen America Open Book Award. Account en lijsten Account Retourzendingen en bestellingen. The author was a mother separated from her children and husband during the war, working to find her way back. Price: $14.99 Prints in 3-5 business days. “They put me up to live with my brother and left the country in a hurry. Listen to the audio pronunciation in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Sure, I sometimes envied my friends who could rattle off the particulars about their mother’s pregnancy. Poetry has taught me how to hold seemingly disparate ideas simultaneously. Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division. Koh opens her memoir, “The Magical Language of Others,” which was published last month. Learn more. That’s where her Korean immigrant parents left her at age 15 with her 19-year-old brother so their father could take a well-paying job back in Seoul. See more ideas about memoirs, korean american, books. The Crucible: An Autobiography by Colonel Yay, Filipina American Guerrilla (Paperback) Yay … It’s an important lesson in expanding the space in your heart, making room for coexistence and compassion.”. “Magnanimity doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to feel hurt,” says Koh. Each of the 49 letters was handwritten by her mother, postmarked Seoul. “We talk on the phone since we can’t see each other,” Koh says. Michelle Zauner’s memoir, Crying in H Mart, tells the story of Zauner’s upbringing as a Korean-American. In one poem, Koh writes: “There is a Korean belief that you are born/ the parent of the one you hurt most.”. Learn more. When Koh was 15, her father was offered a lucrative job in Seoul and her parents returned to their home country. “The present is the revenge of the past,” Koh writes. AVAILABLE NOW : BOOK INQUIRIES: Order your copy online by clicking here: Memoir of a Cashier. Inside was a stack of letters. Songs for Tomorrow: A Collection of Poems 1960-2002 by Ko Un (2008), translated by … “As if by magic, we still love each other, we still care for one another and we still teach each other.”, Crosscut is a service of Cascade Public Media, a nonprofit, public media organization. "Memoir of a Cashier: Korean Americans, Racism & Riots" by Carol Park. “The first few drafts of this memoir [were] very angry, and it was so boring because it felt like reading a journal entry or a diary,” Koh says. Korean American chef and the star of Netflix's Ugly Delicious, Chang dishes out an outrageously entertaining memoir about his improbable ascent to culinary fame. Ben works nights at the deli, and days at the Paris Review, a hoity toity literary magazine. The memoirs — all by Asian-American women — touch on migration, displacement, language, and identity. Jan 30, 2019 - Books by, for and about Korea and Korean Americans. memoirs of a third-gen korean-american. Carol K. Park’s “Memoir of a Cashier” is set against the backdrop of the L.A. Hamburger Gim-Bap/Bus 1147 hamburger gim-bap and bus 1147 are 2 vignettes from the Korean-American writer, Mi Soon Burzlaff’s new book titled “Bravo your Life”. After the unfortunate loss of her mother, Zauner had to figure out her identity and her place in society. How did Koh, as a Korean-American at a relatively young age, know that her life story could merit a memoir? Putin’s once-scorned vaccine now favorite in pandemic fight, 'Quad' countries arranging first meeting of leaders, Literary manga ‘The Man Without Talent’ speaks volumes in hermetic angst, Marijuana law reform in Japan contingent on the message, Dagashiya in decline: The slow fade of a traditional sweets institution, Episode 80: A shift in Japan's climate policy, Directory of who’s who in the world of business in Japan. In Koh’s memoir, The Magical Language of Others, money is a catalyst in a very different way: though her family reached financial stability, her parents returned to Korea when her father received a lucrative job offer, leaving 15-year-old Koh and her brother alone in the US for seven years.