Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Seoul Man by Frank Ahrens - Available

Seoul Man

A Memoir of Cars, Culture, Crisis, and Unexpected Hilarity inside a Korean Corporate Titan

by Frank Ahrens
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Recounting his three years in Korea, the highest-ranking non-Korean executive at Hyundai sheds light on a business culture very few Western journalists ever experience in this revealing, moving, and hilarious memoir.When Frank Ahrens, a middle-aged bachelor and eighteen-year veteran at the Washington Post, fell in love with a diplomat, his life changed dramatically. Following his new bride to her first appointment in Seoul, South Korea, Frank traded the newsroom for a corporate suite, becoming director of global communications at Hyundai Motors. In a land whose population is ninety-seven percent Korean, he was one of fewer than ten non-Koreans in a company of 5,000 employees.For the next three years, Frank traveled to auto shows and press conferences around the world, pitching Hyundai to former colleagues while trying to navigate cultural differences at home and at work. While his appreciation for absurdity enabled him to laugh his way through many awkward encounters, his job began to take a toll on his marriage and family. Eventually, he became a vice president—the highest-ranking non-Korean in the history of Hyundai—but at an untenable price.Filled with unique insights and told in his engaging, humorous voice, Seoul Man sheds light on a culture few Westerns know, and is a delightfully funny and heartwarming adventure for anyone who has ever felt like a fish out of water—all of us.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 16, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781504729871
      • File size: 291641 KB
      • Duration: 10:07:35

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Frank Ahrens shares his Seoul with listeners as he recounts his experiences as Hyundai's global public relations director. SEOUL MAN is ultimately his story, not Hyundai's, and his earnest wonder is the fuel that drives listeners through it to the epilogue. Listeners discover with him the wonders of Korea, Hyundai, a new career, a first marriage, and renewed faith (the other "soul" in the book title). By Ahrens's own admission, he arrived in Korea unschooled in the culture. The "hilarity" of the subtitle arises from the resulting misunderstandings and surprises--an example of the latter being Korea's alcohol-fueled mandated corporate social gatherings. One continually hears in his voice his amazement at where he found himself--geographically, professionally, and personally. K.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 16, 2016
      Civilizations clash and learn from each other when an American joins a South Korean company in this fish-out-of-water memoir. Former Washington Post reporter Ahrens went to Seoul to become a PR executive for auto-maker Hyundai and found a nation of odd contrasts: a gleaming, futuristic democracy steeped in old-fashioned Confucian hierarchy; selfless teamwork paired with desperate competition for status; ubiquitous plastic surgery to attain a monotonous standard of beauty; densely crowded cities where people make few friends; and buttoned-down conformity that somehow works itself out in raucous drinking parties. Despite his baffled amusement at Korean idiosyncrasies, Ahrens finds the local ethos rubbing off as he tries to reconcile his lifelong individualism with his commitments as a new husband and father. Along the way, he explores Hyundai’s contrasting effort to shed its economy-car image and make its brand feel more upscale, and specifically more German, by building precision-engineered luxury models. Ahrens’s blend of personal memoir, reportage, and business history doesn’t always come together but the book is engagingly written and full of funny, intriguing probes into the quirks he discovers in his surroundings and himself. This is a nuanced look at a nation where an image of Western modernity is reflected and illuminated by an off-kilter mirror. Agent: Howard Yoon, Ross Yoon Agency.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
Check out what's being checked out right now