Baek Se-hee

The South Korean runaway bestseller, debut author Baek Sehee's intimate therapy memoir, as recommended by BTS. 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 judgmental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, performing the calmness 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 yen for her favorite street food: the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like? Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a twelve-week period, and expanding on each session with her own reflective micro-essays, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions, and harmful behaviors 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. It will appeal to anyone who has ever felt alone or unjustified in their everyday despair. —————— Aku: Bagaimana caranya agar bisa mengubah pikiran bahwa saya ini standar dan biasa saja? Psikiater: Memangnya hal itu merupakan masalah yang harus diperbaiki? Aku: Iya, karena saya ingin mencintai diri saya sendiri. ----- I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokpokki adalah esai yang berisi tentang pertanyaan, penilaian, saran, nasihat, dan evaluasi diri yang bertujuan agar pembaca bisa menerima dan mencintai dirinya. Buku self improvement ini mendapatkan sambutan baik karena pembaca meraskan hal yang sama dengan kisah Baek Se Hee sehingga buku ini mendapatkan predikat bestseller di Korea Selatan.

Baek Se-Hee 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 and 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 yen 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.

The sequel to the Sunday Times and international-bestselling South Korean therapy memoir, translated by International Booker Prize-shortlisted Anton Hur When Baek Sehee started recording her sessions with her psychiatrist, her hope was to create a reference for herself. She never imagined she would reach so many people, especially young people, with her reflections. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki became a runaway bestseller in South Korea, Indonesia, and the U.S., and reached a community of readers who appreciated depression and anxiety being discussed with such intimacy. Baek's struggle with dysthymia continues in I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki. And healing is a difficult process; the inner conflict she experiences in treatment becomes more complex, more challenging. With this second book, Baek Sehee reaches out to hold the hands of all those for whom grappling with everyday despair is part of a lifelong project, part of the journey.

“Alih-alih menerima kekurangan, aku memutuskan untuk tidak memandang diriku sendiri secara negatif.” Perjuangan Baek Se Hee untuk sembuh dari distimia masih berlanjut. Konflik batin yang dialaminya selama masa penyembuhan pun jadi lebih kompleks. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokpokki adalah catatan pengobatan Baek Se Hee yang berjuang mengatasi distimia—depresi ringan yang terus-menerus. Kedekatan buku ini dengan pembaca mengantarnya masuk ke jajaran bestseller Korea Selatan dan Indonesia. Baek Se Hee telah menggandeng banyak tangan orang pada seri pertama dan ia berharap bisa menggandeng lebih banyak tangan lagi dengan buku kedua ini.

Baek Sehee è giovane, ha una laurea in Scrittura creativa e lavora per una casa editrice: ha una vita apparentemente serena, una carriera che dovrebbe farla sentire appagata. Eppure un forte malessere esistenziale l'accompagna, non una vera e propria depressione, piuttosto un'apatia cronica che le impedisce di vivere pienamente i rapporti di amicizia, l'amore, i successi lavorativi. Baek si rivolge a uno psichiatra per cercare di dare un nome al suo stato d'animo e scopre di soffrire di distemia, una forma più lieve della depressione, ma con sintomi persistenti. Trascrivendo le sedute settimanali con lo psichiatra, Baek racconta con semplicità e ironia le difficoltà che si trova a vivere giorno dopo giorno; l'ansia del non saper gestire al meglio le nuove amicizie, l'ossessione per il proprio aspetto fisico, l'insicurezza provocata dal giudizio degli altri suscitano in lei una serie di meccanismi di difesa e comportamenti autolesionisti. E, soprattutto, un alternarsi continuo tra la sensazione di vuoto lancinante e l'allegria di una serata con gli amici; tra l'apatia e il desiderio impellente di uscire per gustare un bel piatto di gnocchi di riso saltati in padella e conditi con salsa piccante: i toppokki, il suo street food preferito. Come conciliare queste sensazioni così distanti tra loro?

Baek Se-Hee 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 and 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 yen 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.

The South Korean runaway bestseller, debut author Baek Se-Hee’s intimate therapy memoir—think Crying in H Mart meets Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. 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 judgmental 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 yen for her favorite 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 behaviors 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. It will appeal to anyone who has ever felt alone or unjustified in their everyday despair.