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I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki

MemoirPsychology
Pages
176
Published
2022
Language
English

Synopsis

A raw, honest memoir by a young woman documenting her decade-long battle with an eating disorder and depression in Seoul — told through short essays that blend personal struggle with hope.

Prose complexity
1/10

Vibe

ReflectiveMelancholicHopeful

Genres

Memoir Psychology

Authors

A
Anton Hur

Anton Hur is a Seoul-based writer and translator, born in Stockholm in 1981 and raised across Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Thailand, and Korea. He has translated numerous Korean authors into English, including Bora Chung and Sang Young Park, earning multiple International Booker Prize longlist and shortlist nods, and is also the author of original fiction such as Toward Eternity.

B
Baek Se-Hee [백세희]

Baek Se-hee (백세희, 1990-2025) was a South Korean author, born in Goyang. She worked in publishing before writing I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki (2018), a record of her sessions with a psychiatrist during treatment for chronic depression, and its sequel (2019). The books sold more than a million copies and were translated for readers in twenty-five countries. She died on 16 October 2025, aged 35; the Korea Organ and Tissue Donation Agency confirmed that she had donated her heart, lu...

Frequently asked questions

  • Is there a follow-up to this book?

    The author continued her documentation of therapy sessions in a sequel titled I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki. Together, the two volumes cover a continuous 32-week period of the author's psychiatric treatment.

  • How did this book originate?

    The text began as a self-published project on the South Korean crowdfunding platform Tumblbug before being acquired by a publisher for wider distribution.