Min Jin Lee

Oh, this is a stupid game.

Well, you know, in thinking about your Presbyterian-ness, I thought, oh, that's so interesting.

It's sort of both a free will and just sort of predestined moment for Min.

You know, she's asserting her free will, but moving towards her destiny in the best possible way.

And they didn't talk to try to get me back.

It was like they knew because I was just so clear.

And I'm so glad that I'm not a lawyer anymore.

That said, I loved my friends and my law firm.

And I love lawyers.

So when people make fun of lawyers, I always kind of think that's kind of a shame because they're some of the most interesting thinkers out there.

So I still have a lot of friends who are lawyers.

When you left, you didn't have a plan, but you decided at that point you were going to write a book, sell it, and make the same amount of money you were making as a lawyer, which was at the time $83,000 a year.

That's a lot of money now.

It was a lot of money in 1995.

What gave you the sense that that was going to happen right away like that?

Well, I think it's because I was so innocent and naive of the world of art.

I didn't know that world.

I really didn't.

And I didn't know publishing.

I didn't know any writers.