INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER"A manifesto to happiness." -New York Times Book Review "An extraordinary book, acrobatic on the level of the sentence, symphonic across its many movements…My Year Abroad is a wild ride-a caper, a romance, a bildungsroman, and something of a satire of how to get filthy rich in rising Asia." - VogueFrom the award-winning author of Native Speaker and On Such a Full Sea, an exuberant, provocative story about a young American life transformed by an unusual Asian adventure - and about the human capacities for pleasure, pain, and connection. Tiller is an average American college student with a good heart but minimal aspirations. Pong Lou is a larger-than-life, wildly creative Chinese American entrepreneur who sees something intriguing in Tiller beyond his bored exterior and takes him under his wing. When Pong brings him along on a boisterous trip across Asia, Tiller is catapulted from ordinary young man to talented protégé, and pulled into a series of ever more extreme and eye-opening experiences that transform his view of the world, of Pong, and of himself. In the breathtaking, "precise, elliptical prose" that Chang-rae Lee is known for (The New York Times), the narrative alternates between Tiller's outlandish, mind-boggling year with Pong and the strange, riveting, emotionally complex domestic life that follows it, as Tiller processes what happened to him abroad and what it means for his future. Rich with commentary on Western attitudes, Eastern stereotypes, capitalism, global trade, mental health, parenthood, mentorship, and more, My Year Abroad is also an exploration of the surprising effects of cultural immersion-on a young American in Asia, on a Chinese man in America, and on an unlikely couple hiding out in the suburbs. Tinged at once with humor and darkness, electric with its accumulating surprises and suspense, My Year Abroad is a novel that only Chang-rae Lee could have written, and one that will be read and discussed for years to come.Story Locale: Asia, New Jersey

INSTANT BOOKSELLER FAVORITE AND INDIE BESTSELLER: Was chosen for a record number of First Edition picks and has been on the indie bestseller list since publication for the last 4 weeks, ever since publication.INCREDIBLE MEDIA COVERAGE AND RAVE RECEPTION: Critical celebration across the spectrum, from an extensive NYT profile, to rave full page review from Alexander Chee in the NYTBR to NPR to a national appearance on late night tv with Seth Meyers. MUCH-AWAITED MASTERPIECE: With this novel, Lee returns to the bright, rich exuberance that first made his name 25 years ago on Riverhead's very first list, with NATIVE SPEAKER. CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR: All six of Chang-rae Lee's books have received enormous critical acclaim and awards. Lee was selected by The New Yorker as one of the "20 Writers for the 21st Century." He has won a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Asian-American Literary Award, the Dayton Peace Prize, the B&N Discover Award, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, among others.A NOVELIST FOR OUR TIMES: Chang-rae Lee continues to earn recognition for his sharply observed critical take on contemporary culture. MY YEAR ABROAD is at once funny, profound, and moving as it explores contemporary ideas of culture, capitalism, racial stereotypes, East - West divisions, upward mobility, and mental health.