Recent Books

Man of My Dreams

Curtis Sittenfeld, translated from English by Lee Jin; GimmYoung: 353 pp., 9,900 won

Despite the title and book cover that might suggest more wishy-washy ``chic lit,'' the book is not just a story of some teenage girl's quest for Prince Charming. Instead, author Curtis Sittenfeld presents Hannah Gavener, a marginal heroine who grows up rather traumatized by her vindictive father, whom the mother divorced when Hannah was 14 years old. While lacking confidence in herself and therefore being critical and watchful toward her peers, Hannah yearns for love and goes through a few relationships until her late '20s, when the story finishes. None of them works out.

This is a poignant coming-of-age novel, much similar to the writer's acclaimed 2005 debut work ``Prep,'' which became a best-selling sensation in America and was also introduced in Korea. But some readers may feel disappointed about the theme and tone of the two books being not very different; perhaps the writer chose to remain in her comfort zone. There are also some points in the narrative that look amateurish, like the final chapter that closes the book with a letter from Hannah to the psychiatrist she had been seeing for eight years.

Nevertheless, the book is a pleasurable read, with its realistic heroine undergoing phases easy for most people to empathize with.

-Seo Dong-shin