cover image Kori: The Beacon Anthology of Korean American Fiction

Kori: The Beacon Anthology of Korean American Fiction

. Beacon Press (MA), $23 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-8070-5916-6

Edited by Heinz Insu Fenkl and Walter K. Lew, Kori is the first anthology of Korean-American fiction; as such, it identifies a literary void, but barely begins to fill it. Featured are works by 16 writers, including Chang-Rae Lee and Susan Choi. All but three are excerpted from previously published books. Themes of assimilation, racism and immigration prevail, and the selections are of uniform high quality. But the short essays preceding each entry, while instructive, often assume the stilted tone of a doctoral dissertation: the editors seem to be trying too hard to drive home ideas that the authors articulate with more grace and style. ( June 29)