Author Chang-rae Lee Speaks About New Book

Korean-American author Chang-rae Lee described writing as an act of improvisation during a discussion yesterday at the Harvard Book Store about his newly released novel “The Surrendered.”

Lee, who called good writing “a spark of emotional truth,” said that the more he plans a novel, the less excited he grows about writing it.

Instead of beginning the event by reading from his fourth novel, Lee took pictures of the audience from the podium for his daughters. A packed house of more than 60 people squeezed into the bookstore to listen to Lee read a selection from his book for more than 20 minutes.

“The Surrendered” interweaves the lives of three characters across time and space in the middle of the 20th century. The novel tells the story of an American soldier, a Korean refugee, and the wife of a missionary, and the way in which their lives are connected by love, war, and history.

“This book is about how the characters...surrender to history,” Lee said. “It is about surrendering to forces out of their control.”

Lee, who is currently the director of Princeton’s creative writing department, was named one of The New Yorker’s 20 best novelists under the age of 40 in 1999. He also received the 1995 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for his first novel “Native Speaker.”

After the question-and-answer session, customers with copies of Lee’s novels in hand formed a winding queue to get their books signed by the author.

Boston pharmacist Joe M. O’Day, one of the many customers who waited after the event to get his book signed, said he thought that the event was “excellent.”

“It is such a blessing to be able to see an author you love,” O’Day said.

“He’s a terrific author,” agreed Michael A. Campbell, a marketing assistant at Harvard Book Store. “We’re excited to bring authors of his caliber to Cambridge.”