Description

THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER | TRANSLATED BY INTERNATIONAL BOOKER SHORTLISTEE ANTON HUR

‘Will strike a chord with anyone who feels that their public life is at odds with how they really feel inside.’ Red

PSYCHIATRIST: So how can I help you?

ME: I don’t know, I’m – what’s the word – depressed? Do I have to go into detail?

Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her – what to call it? – depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgemental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends; adept at performing the calmness, even ease, her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can’t be normal.

But if she’s so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like?

Recording her conversations with her psychiatrist over 12 weeks, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions and harmful behaviours that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is a book to keep close and to reach for in times of darkness.

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki comes in three different colours; the colour you receive will be chosen at random

Publisher Review

An eye-opening view into a person's most vulnerable moments in a new way. * Cosmopolitan * I Want to Die... has been a huge bestseller in Korea and will strike a chord with anyone who feels that their public life is at odds with how they really feel inside. Baek Sehee transcribes the sessions with her psychiatrist as she uncovers the root causes of her anxiety and harmful behaviours, despite the perfect picture she presents to the world. * Red * At once personal and universal, this book is about finding a path to awareness, understanding, and wisdom. * Kirkus Reviews * Candid ... heartfelt ... Sehee's mission to normalize conversation about mental illness is an admirable one. * Publishers Weekly * Sehee is honest and authentic throughout ... [I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki] will resonate with young people who suffer from similar forms of depression and anxiety. * Library Journal * A testament to the gradual nature of therapy's cumulative healing effects, I Want to Die should resonate with anyone who eagerly transcribes every nugget of advice they get. * Buzzfeed * Earnest ... clever ... [Baek Sehee] uses months of (real) transcripts from her therapy sessions to explore her own depression and anxiety, always tiptoeing toward something like self-awareness. * Chicago Tribune * With candor and humor, Baek offers readers and herself resonant moments of empathy ... [I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki] arrives in the U.S. sensitively English-enabled by favored translator Hur. * Booklist *