Korean Novel Becomes a Hit in U.S.

"Please Look After Mom," a runaway bestseller in Korea by Shin Kyung-sook, is now a hit in the U.S. Even before the official release on April 5, the book has already gone into a second printing following a record 100,000-copy first run.

The book ranks among the top 15 major books of the year by Barnes and Noble, and Shin (48) is scheduled to go on a book tour of seven U.S. cities and eight countries in Europe.

Published by Knopf, the book debuts in the U.S. with a first print run of 100,000 copies, which is unprecedented for a foreign writer. The hardback is priced at US$24.95 on Amazon.

"Please Look After Mom" deals with a family's search for their mother, who suddenly disappears one afternoon into the crowd at the Seoul Station subway. It has garnered rave reviews and the first print run sold out through pre-orders.

Shin's U.S. tour starts in Seattle, Washington on April 11 and takes in Philadelphia, New York and Pittsburgh. The European leg starts on May 18 in Madrid and goes on to Portugal, Italy, the U.K., France and Poland and ends in mid-June.

Shin and her husband, a literary critic, have been staying in New York since last summer as visiting researchers at Columbia University. "It looks like things have gotten off to a good start," Shin said. "It is a very packed schedule and I hope everything will go smoothly."