I kept waiting for her to fix what I could not see, but she offered no critique. She just smiled, half in and out of consciousness, maybe too medicated now to tell the difference. Or maybe, deep down, she knew what was best, that small criticisms weren’t worth it anymore.
Indie pop singer Michelle Zauner is riding a wave of critical acclaim for her best-selling memoir, and not just because she’s won a Grammy. This tender story of rebellion and reconciliation between a Korean-American girl and her dying, perfectionist mother plucks all the right chords of pathos—just enough that we feel her loss but not so much that she overshares. Coming of age just as her mother is dying, losing her strongest connection to her mother-tongue and cuisine, these are losses that magnify mourning as she strives to keep the memories alive with recipes, travel, and a pen pal old enough to be her mother.
I had never heard of Zauner before a friend recommended this memoir, but I found the 7 ½ hour audiobook narrated by the author to be honest, rich in imagery, and artfully written. For a taste of her work and motivation, watch this brief interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning just three weeks ago.