The Orphan Master's Son: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize-winner) [B2200]

2012 PB in nice clean condition. The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling novel of North Korea: an epic journey into the heart of the world's most mysterious dictatorship. Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award • Winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize • Named One of the Best Books of the Year by more than a dozen publications • One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Year.

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother-a singer 'stolen' to Pyongyang-and an influential father who runs a work camp for orphans. Superiors in the North Korean state soon recognize the boy's loyalty and keen instincts. Considering himself 'a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world', Jun Do rises in the ranks. He becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress "so pure, she didn't know what starving people looked like."

Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Master's Son is also a riveting portrait of a world heretofore hidden from view: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Phenomenal, powerful book."; "This was really interesting! Johnson was able to construct a mysterious and compelling story while staying true to what he believes may occur in North Korea (based on extensive interviews and a visit to Pyongyang). If you read the book, definitely read the author's discussion at the end of the book! It helped contextualize things."; "This was a bit hard for me to get into at first but I really enjoyed immersing myself into a different culture I didn't have a whole lot of knowledge about previously. Jun Do's slow realization throughout the story was very interesting and I ended up really feeling for him."; "This was a compelling and harrowing read about daily life in North Korea. The descriptions of navigating living under a dictatorship and never truly knowing who to trust , saving-face, and scrimping by was riveting and difficult at times. The unrelenting loyalty and praise for their dear leader feels ironic in these modern times as those on the right that fear the idea of communism the most seem to be in full support of their own dictator who can also do no wrong as truth seems to bend and degrade under their own rule."