Author of bestselling memoir 'I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki' dies aged 35
Baek Se-hee's self-help memoir was a cultural sensation upon its release, hailed for its honest portrayal of mental health conversations
Baek Se-hee, South Korean author of the hit memoir I Want to Die but I Want To Eat Tteokbokki, has died aged 35.
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Her book fused together memoir and self-help and became a cultural sensation upon its release.
It was hailed as a groundbreaking piece of work for its honest portrayal of mental health, stringing together conversations with her psychiatrist about her depression.
The book was heavily acclaimed domestically, selling 600,000 copies, but she skyrocketed to international fame when it was published in English in 2022, It later sold more than a million copies worldwide and was translated in 25 countries.
Its namesake comes from the famous line: "The human heart, even when it wants to die, quite often wants at the same time to eat some tteokbokki, too."
Baek’s sister said in a tribute that she wanted to "share her heart with others through her work, and to inspire hope".
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“Knowing her gentle nature, incapable of harbouring hatred, I hope she can now rest peacefully,” the statement read.
Anton Hur, who translated her works into English, said: "her readers will know she touched yet millions of lives more with her writing."
Baek’s cause of death has not been revealed, but the Korean organ donation agency said she saved five lives by donating her heart, lungs, liver and both kidneys.
The writer was born in 1990 and studied creative writing at university before working at a publishing house for five years.
She underwent psychiatric treatment for 10 years and initially got the idea for her memoir began after she posted notes taken in therapy onto a blog and it received positive feedback.
A sequel, I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki, was published in Korean in 2019, and later in English in 2024.
Tteokbokki, a popular Korean snack, are tubular chewy rice cakes typically eaten with a spicy sauce or stew.
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