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Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller
Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

Rachel Khong’s ‘Real Americans’

side by side of a woman and a book
One of the most anticipated novels of the summer, Rachel Khong’s "Real Americans" follows three generations as they walk the line between fate and self-determination.
Book cover courtesy of Alfred A. Knopf | Photo courtesy of Andria Lo

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Lily Chen is not endowed with good fortune — despite the fact that her scientist mother managed to grow a backyard of four-leaf clovers. She doesn’t win raffles or lotteries. She scrapes out a meager living as an unpaid intern with the hopes that it might give her a shot at an entry-level gig.

In short: Not lucky.

But then a chance encounter upends her life and changes her idea of what fortune really is.

Rachel Khong’s new book, “Real Americans,” is already a New York Times bestseller and one of the hottest novels of the summer. She joined MPR News host Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about teasing out the truth between luck and choice, soul mates and chance.

Guest:

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