That said, if we could get free meals for life at a few Michelin-starred institutions by giving up a little space on our skin, we'd probably do it. So, uh, Eleven Madison Park? Le Bernardin? You know where to find us. Will be used in accordance with our user agreement and privacy policy. All rights reserved. Close Menu Icon. Subscribe to our newsletter. According data gathered by piracy-focused blog TorrentFreak , during the first month of , three copyright holders filed a total of lawsuits against alleged pirates.
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The characters were i I had been waiting for a long time to read the book. The characters were introduced so clumsily that you knew from the first moment that they'd end up as somebody's paramour, or that they'd have an affair, or that they'd end up happy and in love, true love! That being said, I did stay up late on more than one occasion reading this reverse-engineered telenovela. View 2 comments.
Most of my reading is contemporary lit fiction. Keeping that in mind, I disagree with allegations that this is chicklit or poorly written which wasn't the view of the NYT Book Review either, btw. For me, this novel was thoroughly engaging--hard to put down, full of charm and wit, and rich with interesting interludes into characters' backgrounds. Yes, the way that it goes into those characters' backgrounds is modeled on 19th century novels, but I didn't find that dull -- for me, the book has en Most of my reading is contemporary lit fiction.
Yes, the way that it goes into those characters' backgrounds is modeled on 19th century novels, but I didn't find that dull -- for me, the book has enough contemporary flow and style that I continued to be interested which is good, considering that I hardly ever read 19th century novels these days.
True, the first time I realized that we were going to hear the thoughts of each character, I was a little taken aback--but I got used to this. In general, I loved the book, as I said. My only criticism would be that sometimes the pronoun usage was confusing -- occasionally when two characters were being mentioned in the same sentence, the pronoun usage was unclear. To refer to this as chick-lit is not to get it, I think. I look forward to Lee's next book.
Casey is such a flawed character, but she's flawed in so many of the same ways that I am She may just be my new favorite book character, with her stubbornness and unwillingness to do what is expected of her. I love the way this book addresses immigration and class and wealth, too.
The gambling addiction of a secondary character also really hit home for me, as people near to me have suffered greatly from this. Highly highly recommended. Feb 07, Elyse Walters rated it really liked it Shelves: audiobook , contemporary-fiction , cultural , family-history , family-relationships , immigration , coming-of-age , dysfunctional-family , debut , multicultural. Library- overdrive Audiobook Review soon I have no idea why I had low expectations- saw low reviews- perhaps after I downloaded the library audio?
Few complaints from me— It was a terrific engaging thought provoking surprise! View all 3 comments. This is an epic length novel that's not an epic. It's a portrayal of life within the ambitious and high achieving Korean-American community in New York City during the s. The book also aspires to be a romance novel of the 19th century style but with modern mores i.
As one would expect the conflict between traditional Korean and urban American culture is examined. Another theme are differences between those who are wealthy and those who wish they were This is an epic length novel that's not an epic. Another theme are differences between those who are wealthy and those who wish they were wealthy. We soon learn that these same differences between rich and poor are also very real within the Korean-American community.
And in the traditional Korean culture we also learn that being from the wrong place in Korea can make a difference. The book makes an obvious hint to be compared with the plot of Middlemarch. The story notes that our protagonist has read it multiple times. For readers who found that the 19th century Middlemarch didn't include sufficient explicit sex will find that this book makes up for it with a double dose.
There is also a reference to Jane Eyre but the parallel to that novel's plot is less obvious. I think the author was trying to say that this book is being written in the tradition of famous 19th century romance novels which probably explains its length. The title of the book comes from an observation about ambitious investment bank brokers.
The wealthiest were the ones most likely to elbow their way to the front of the line when the doors were opened to a free food smorgasbord. In other words, they had no qualms about accepting free gifts. Meanwhile, those of limited means were reluctant—or too proud—to accept the smallest gift because it might indicate an obligation or dependence on others. The author's writing certainly shows an understanding of what it is like to be a member of a supportive faith community.
In this case it is a Korean-American Presbyterian Church that at an official level are united by a common faith. But at a more practical level they are united by a common ethnic culture and real human friendships.
This is a community that will come and visit when a member is sick. If the member is in the hospital they will visit their room and sing some hymns, causing people down the hall to turn and take notice. It seems that every character in this novel manifested behavior at some point that I found either unwise or unacceptable.
But the story made them real and very human. The skilled writing of the narrative kept me interested even though I couldn't identify closely with the characters. Lots to talk about here. No wonder Free Food for Millionaires is a book-club darling. Shelves: fiction , new-york. Will they kiss? Oh my the unaccepted boyfriend is going to make a scene with her parents! Oh my! This soap opera of a novel takes us through the life of a young Korean-American Princeton graduate who's surrounded by other upwardly mobile Ivy graduates while she herself perpetually can't get out of debt on account of her shopping addiction.
The first chapter itself initializes with too much of a bang in my opinion, and peters out throughout with not enough 'bangs'. I think the best parts of the novel concern the older generation, the mother and father, their fellow church-goers, parents of their friends. Their episodes are written with a subtlety, delicacy, and poignancy that are lacking sometimes when she writes about the main character Casey or her business i-banking cohorts.
I am probably more tussled by the New York Times review of this book. The reviewer Schillinger notes that Lee's strength lies in her ability to garner the reader's "appreciation of the usual. But how is the "drama intensifi[ed]" by being set in an "unfamiliar backdrop" of the "tightly knit social world of Korean immigrants"? Logically that would mean that Korean-American New Yorkers would find the plot less dramatic?
Despite my misgivings I do recommend the book. The reading is fast, the characters portrayed sometimes in such caricature that I find myself chortling at them and their portrayal, and all in all somewhat fun and entertaining, and written well if somewhat wordy carry a pencil with you and practice your copy editing skills. Others have panned it because the characters are unlikeable to them. My own experience is I didn't want the book to end. I'm still thinking about Casey, Leah, Unu, Ella and the other fully formed characters--even minor ones-- that seemed to step off the page.
Not only is this a novel of the Korean-American experience and Wall Street culture both of which I was completely unfamiliar with , it's also an incredibly articulate and meticulous character study of the basic human themes of love, betrayal, integrity, failure, success and the quest for happiness.
The characters are imperfect which makes them life-like and sometimes truly are unlikeable, yet the author, Min Jin Lee, has the gift of helping us understand the reasons they take the wrong path or hurt someone or hell, even wrack up credit cards as they struggle to find their identity. I love character study based novels, the kind that seem to do an autopsy on the human condition.
This novel did just that and more. I feel like I had a relationship with the book. Sometimes it pissed me off and other times it had me nearly crying but it made me feel. And that's why I read. Intelligent, wise and beautifully written. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. At a whopping plus pages, the "poverty" theme felt like constant hammerblows, which was just tiresome for a contrast as to how "poverty" can be rendered thematically in narrative that will touch you to the bone, check out Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina.
Casey the protagonist, as complex as she is, seems to veer between two extremes: being unhappy and whiny about not having any money and being unhappy and whiny when she's being offered help with money. She's unhappy and whiny eve At a whopping plus pages, the "poverty" theme felt like constant hammerblows, which was just tiresome for a contrast as to how "poverty" can be rendered thematically in narrative that will touch you to the bone, check out Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina.
She's unhappy and whiny even when she's enjoying the finer things in life e. At times, one felt like giving her a good hard shake: you have a Princeton degree, a law school offer to Columbia, a job at one of the most prestigious bulge-bracket investment bank, and if she had been able to keep at it, an NYU Stern business school degree.
Add to that a wardrobe full of designer clothes, hats galore, and poor as she is, she's given presents like Rolex watches and Hermes scarves. Really, why is she bitching all the time?
That's not the only annoying thing. The mother feels like a stereotypical, cartoonish Korean submissive-demure first generation Asian -- to the point that although she'd lived in America for the better part of her adult years, she was unable to fight off her choir director's sexual assault, and later, unable to recognize it as "date-rape" and even worse, did not realize she was pregnant.
Is this woman for real? On which cloud-lala does she live? There's a limit to which the non-awakened "Asian submissiveness" can be pushed to. The other characters in this book are no less stereotypical: cookie cutter types that fail to break through their molds and worse, they fail to enliven the set pieces and situations into which the writer has thrown them. Ted, for example, is your stereotypical asshole Korean machismo -- a lying, traitorous investment banker, ambitious and voracious and crass.
Ella, his wife, again the demure, submissive type, religious to a fault, the perfect angel through to the end. In Casey's love-interest -- Unu -- lies the sole glimmer of redemption for this story and yet, although a dark horse with his gambling obsession, he comes across as bland and uninteresting, ultimately. He is an anti-hero, he rescues Casey from her poverty, but fails to rescue himself.
The plot also skips choice-scenes that might have hurtled this story over and above the cross-cultural confrontations that cloud its pages: e. Again, the scene when Casey goes on her first date with Unu could have been developed and shown -- it might have given us a clue as to the future dynamic of this couple. I'd have liked that intervening scene when Casey takes back her cheating boyfriend. She leaves him with her stuff in garbage bags and next thing we know, they're living together and engaged to be married.
This story is rife with ripe plotpoint potentials like these that remain unexplored and unmined. It's de rigeur nowadays in "high-brow" literature to end with the door closed-window open effect, and here, the door-closing, I suppose, is Casey's decision to drop B-school, turn down the Kearn Davis investment banker offer, and make hats for a living. The unresolved "window-open" effect is whether she and Unu will get back together. And yet, I find myself completely unsatisfied at the end of this labor of narrative -- forcing myself to finish by sheer will and time-investment.
The exercise program is essential to Body for Life. This includes 20 minutes 3 times per week of aerobic exercise, and lifting weights for 3 times a week 45 minutes per session. Bill Phillips has brought different elements together and combined them into a single program.
He has delivered these in a truly inspiring and motivational fashion. Body for Life has been the catalyst for thousands of people to finally get fit and healthy, and there is always a Body for Life challenge going on somewhere in the world. The Body for Life program is sensible in all aspects. It is not a very low calorie plan, and has a substantial exercise component. You will need to have considerable motivation to succeed, be prepared to work hard, and fat loss would be in the region of pounds per week if you are currently overweight.
Despite the book being adorned with before and after photos of people becoming muscular, it takes a lot of discipline to not only lose fat but to build defined muscle mass. These exercises can be used with the Body for Life program. Following the diet 6 meals per day can be difficult, and the author suggests plugs?
This is not surprising as Bill Phillips was once the owner of EAS supplements he subsequently sold the company on. EAS is reputed to be one of the superior supplement makers in the industry. Protein shakes such as Myoplex certainly have their place particularly in a regime with meals per day. Shakes, bars, and Ready-to-Drinks are a convenient way to supply your body with the nutrients — but are never a replacement for real food. More low Calorie healthy recipes can be found here.
See Also: Official site — The official site for Body-for-life products.
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