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

by Frank Ahrens Narrated by Frank Ahrens

Overview

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 Westerners know, and is a delightfully funny and heartwarming adventure for anyone who has ever felt like a fish out of water-all of us.

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2016 - AudioFile

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

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169607444
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	08/16/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos