_______________ THE PHENOMENAL KOREAN 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 dialogues with her psychiatrist over a 12-week period 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.
