Nobody Checks the Time When They're Happy

Book excerpt: No One Checks the Time When They're Happy is a collection of stories, by turns sad and funny, about the thwarted expectations of the young as they grow older. Eun Heeyung's characters are misfits who, by virtue of their bodies or their lack of social status, are left to dream of momentous changes that will never come. Unsatisfied with work, with family, and with friends, they lose themselves in diets, books, and blogs. Her work humorously but humanely depicts the loneliness and monotony found in many modern lives. Eun Heekyung is the author of thirteen books of fiction and her work has been translated into seven languages. Amber Hyun Jung Kim is a freelance translator and conference interpreter.