Crying in H Mart by Michelle ZaunerDescription
Crying in H Mart is Michelle Zauner’s memoir of grief and appreciation of culture, particularly in the cuisine of her Korean heritage.
Zauner lost her mother when she was only twenty-five and had just begun to develop a more mature relationship with her. She describes herself as having been a difficult child and her parents struggling to help her through depression when she was in high school. Music, as she writes, was what saved her in her adolescence, but it was food that helped her in the mourning process for her mother.
From her early childhood, the strongest connection Michelle had with her mother was food. Her mother paid close attention to the food preferences of others and lauded Michelle’s Korean palate. Every other year, they went to Korea to visit family and take in the country in which her mother grew up and lived until she married Michelle’s American father and left after her birth. In Korea, and with extended family, food is still the language of love and joy.
The book describes a difficult reality between daughter, mother, and father, as well as including details about her mother as she was dying of cancer.
Zauner lost her mother when she was only twenty-five and had just begun to develop a more mature relationship with her. She describes herself as having been a difficult child and her parents struggling to help her through depression when she was in high school. Music, as she writes, was what saved her in her adolescence, but it was food that helped her in the mourning process for her mother.
From her early childhood, the strongest connection Michelle had with her mother was food. Her mother paid close attention to the food preferences of others and lauded Michelle’s Korean palate. Every other year, they went to Korea to visit family and take in the country in which her mother grew up and lived until she married Michelle’s American father and left after her birth. In Korea, and with extended family, food is still the language of love and joy.
The book describes a difficult reality between daughter, mother, and father, as well as including details about her mother as she was dying of cancer.
Would I teach this book?
Would I teach Crying in H Mart? Crying in H Mart, as a memoir, seems to have less distance from the death of the mother and less reflection than some other similar memoirs, such as Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died. The point of telling is fresh and incredibly youthful. It’s a vibe, and not one that I dislike.
Crying in H Mart was a book club pick, my first book club pick, and it is a book that I might have found my way to without book club. The majority of the non-fiction that I read, which is admittedly significantly less than the fiction that I read, is memoir. I love a good story. My mother recommended this book to me, and when it was my turn to suggest books, I put this one on the list.
Crying in H Mart is a good book to teach as well as a good book for book club. As for teaching, Crying in H Mart illustrates how pairing a common experience, such as the loss of a parent, with a point of passion, such as Korean cuisine, helps to make a work both personal and universal. In terms of representation, as Zauner discusses looking for role models with whom she can identify in music, including Korean American voices, the representation her voice offers is important. Zauner’s relative youth at the point of writing the book is also significant in terms of including diverse points of view.
If you were a fan of Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert or Wild by Cheryl Stayed, you will likely enjoy Crying in H Mart, though I enjoyed Crying in H Mart much more than the other two.
Crying in H Mart was a book club pick, my first book club pick, and it is a book that I might have found my way to without book club. The majority of the non-fiction that I read, which is admittedly significantly less than the fiction that I read, is memoir. I love a good story. My mother recommended this book to me, and when it was my turn to suggest books, I put this one on the list.
Crying in H Mart is a good book to teach as well as a good book for book club. As for teaching, Crying in H Mart illustrates how pairing a common experience, such as the loss of a parent, with a point of passion, such as Korean cuisine, helps to make a work both personal and universal. In terms of representation, as Zauner discusses looking for role models with whom she can identify in music, including Korean American voices, the representation her voice offers is important. Zauner’s relative youth at the point of writing the book is also significant in terms of including diverse points of view.
If you were a fan of Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert or Wild by Cheryl Stayed, you will likely enjoy Crying in H Mart, though I enjoyed Crying in H Mart much more than the other two.
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