INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable Book * Named a Best Book of the Year by Vogue , TIME , and Marie Claire “A manifesto to happiness—the one found when you stop running from who you are.” – New York Times Book Review “An extraordinary book, acrobatic on the level of the sentence, symphonic across its many movements—and this is a book that moves… 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.” – Vogue From 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. Praise for My Year Abroad :  “A wild tale that moves coolly between satire and thriller . . . . Lee tells a story of what it means to be plucked from darkness into the light of recognition, and in doing so, explores the fundamental human desires to be seen and to love.” — The Washington Post “A wild-ride picaresque, wisecracking, funny, ambitious, full of sex and danger.”  — The New York Times Book Review “Exuberant . . . Lee's writing style, as usual, is alive with wit and satiric social commentary… boisterous and fun.” — NPR, Fresh Air “ My Year Abroad  is an extraordinary book, acrobatic on the level of the sentence, symphonic across its many movements—and this is a book that moves. . . . 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.” — Vogue.com “A moving saga about family and loss, embedded in what reads like a romp. Ultimately, Lee has succeeded in creating that rare type of novel, one which is both sneakily profound and a blast to read.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Dickens meets globalism in this new work from one of our most celebrated writers.” — OprahDaily.com “Chang-rae Lee’s new global adventure is his most essentially American novel. . . . Long preoccupied with the ways identity holds people back, Lee now seems to want to write about how those things open us up, for good or ill.” — Los Angeles Times   “Chang-rae Lee's propulsive dark comedy re-creates a Dantean descent into a globalism teetering on disaster. . . . a pulse-raising page-turner, with dazzling moments and a Saunders-esque riot of marketing gimmicks and junk food.”  — Star Tribune “Reading  My Year Abroad  feels like watching a master juggler at work; Lee, the author of five other novels, highlights his accomplished literary skills within this kaleidoscopic, dynamic narrative.” — Electric Literature “A syncopated surprise, with an ending that will be sure to leave you texting all your friends.” —NYMag.com/ Vulture “Chang-rae Lee’s latest novel is about much more than a wild adventure abroad. . . . It’s an energetic but tender exploration of cultural immersion, ambition and pleasure that takes many unexpected turns.” — Time.com “Equal parts insightful, suspenseful and darkly funny.” — PureWow “Tinged with dark humor and rich with commentary.” — Fortune.com “A riotously funny, bizarre, brilliant novel.” — Medium “Chang-rae Lee's electric new novel has the kind of kinetic energy that makes reading it feel like a full body experience, leaving you wondering and in awe of where exactly it will take you next. . . . a virtuosic, wildly original book—one that cements Lee's status as one of the most exciting writers