“After college, I was living in New York and wrote furiously, a huge no...” — Chang-Rae Lee Quote

“After college, I was living in New York and wrote furiously, a huge novel that I knew was a failure. I hoped that the book would work, but to be honest, I think I knew it would never work, even as I was finishing it.”

“My parents - my mother, particularly - were very focused on our succeeding. I loved my parents, and was very grateful to them for everything, and I didn't want to disappoint them.”

“Before I start my work in the morning, I need to have quickly browsed the entire paper, noting articles that I want to read during lunch.”

“As I started to consider a career in music, I hoped for success, truthfully. I didn't imagine anything that would amass the level of the first record, but I hoped that I would be able to sustain a career.”

“I always hoped I'd get a chance to prove myself at the top level because I believed I could do it, but making your way up the football ladder is very tough.”

“I hoped that it would be possible to slide slowly from my public life back to the life of teaching and writing that I had always wanted. But things didn't work out that way.”