Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

May 21, 2022

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Following the death of her mother from cancer, Michelle Zauner found herself crying in the most unexpected places, like H Mart, the Asian mega-supermarket. Despite resenting her mother's expectations, Zauner writes about growing up Korean-American in Eugene, Oregon, where she was one of the few Asian Americans in the community. Her family bonded through food, and some of the best parts are where she talks about visiting her grandmother in Seoul and cooking and eating wonderful meals with her mother.

Maybe because I like the previous memoir that I read so much (Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter), I was disappointed in this one. I picked it up because of all the positive reviews, and I know a lot of people loved it but I didn't care for the writing or how the story was told. I also don't really know who Michelle Zauner is - I know, that makes me some kind of dinosaur, but I don't follow influencers or indie pop types on line. Actually, I don't follow anyone and have very little social media presence.

We have H Mart here in the Chicago area, and it's actually a pretty cool store. Lots of fresh fish, beautiful vegetables, and for some reason, a French pastry shop inside the store. The only problem I have is that it sometimes smells very strongly of fish, at least the one in Niles does, near where I live.

In case they don't have H Mart where you live

Me, when it comes to social media