Min Jin Lee

But by the time I finish writing a book, I know so much about that field.

I feel like what I say is true, even though obviously the conceit of fiction is that it's not true.

Well, you said that doing as much research as you do gives you confidence.

And I was wondering, what is the confidence fueling?

Is it fueling the narrative and your freedom to construct a narrative?

Or is it fueling a sense of deeply knowing your characters?

Oh, I know.

It's a very strange thing, but I'm telling my readers the truth.

So you could trust me.

Like if you see something in my work about immigration law or a place, you can feel very confident that it happened to somebody.

And it's not that one person.

It's usually a bunch of people.

So if I interview a software engineer or if I interview an investment banker or an architect or a dog walker, and if I tell you that this is a Bichon versus a Golden Doodle, like I know.

And you could trust me.

And that's important because I write about things that a lot of people don't normally know a lot about.

So that makes me feel better.

10 years passed between the publication of Free Food for Millionaires and the publication of your second novel, Pachinko.

But you've said that if you could do it again, you wouldn't have taken so long.

And that failing and floundering is horrible and humiliating.

doesn't really feel like you're floundering and failing when you're researching and sort of immersed in the process of writing in the way that you do.