Seoul Man

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

By: Frank Ahrens

Narrated by: Frank Ahrens

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 18-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 97 percent Korean, he was one of fewer than 10 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.

©2016 Frank Ahrens (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Read This Book

Captivating. This is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve consumed this year. Frank is an effective storyteller who expertly weaves together a combination of personal and professional anecdotes as he takes you through his life journey. Great story, even better messages, and forms an arc of which Vonnegut would be proud (albeit non-fiction). Well done!

Korean Culture Very Cool But Nothing Else

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Only the part about Korean history and culture was cool but really nothing else.

Has Seoul Man turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Frank Ahrens?

Not sure

What else would you have wanted to know about Frank Ahrens’s life?

Nothing. Heard too much. Could of been summarized in a family Christmas letter.

Any additional comments?

First off you could see this author was a good reporter because when he wrote about Korean culture it was very interesting and you could see he did his homework. This part about his book I truly loved and now I want to read more about Korean history. This I thank him for. The rest I could of done without. All his personal life seemed uninteresting and superficial except for how he interacted with Koreans. Even that was a little disappointing with his unwillingness to immerse himself unto Korean culture but at least seemed honest due to it's superficial nature. He should of reserved his personal life for his family/friend Christmas Letters. Everyone I know who also read this felt his personal life was the most uninteresting part of the book. I suggest you fast forward through every one of these chapters. Before reading this book I thought Hyundai was a cool company that turned themselves around. The Elantra is still the best car my wife ever owned. My dad owns the Genesis, loves it and so I wanted to hear about the company in the book. However the author made this a shameless commercial for the company and therefore most of this was very hard to listen to. So if I ever read another book from Frank Ahrens I hope it's not autobiographical or about a company he's associated with. If he want's to write a book about Korean history and keep it just about that I'm in. Otherwise I'm out. Now, thanks to this book, I'm going to watch The Admiral and learn about a Korean Themistocles.

Excellent set of stories

I loved the stories and insights. The author could have prepared himself better for the reading. It was tolerable, but a bit irritating, especially as he had used the phrase "off-syllable emphases" about problems with Korean-speakers' English speeches. Having an understanding of that problem, he shouldn't have demonstrated it.

I'm not sorry I listened, but I wish editors and recording engineers would be more willing to point problems out to readers.

Good anecdotes about working for a Korean corp

I finished this audiobook pretty quickly. It is read by the author, who reads it much better than a different narrator would. His voice is not annoying.

I have lived for a total of over a year in Korea, invest in Korean companies, and many of my friends work for Korean companies. Mr. Ahrens worked for one of the most buttoned-up and traditional large corporations, Hyundai Motor. It's a great outsider-insider's view of Hyundai Motor, and also sheds some interesting insights on the auto indsutry, corporate vs journalist life, expat life in East Asia, getting married for the 1st time as an older male, and experiences acclimatizing to a foreign corporate culture.

Great book and would not hesitate to recommend it. A nitpick is that a lot of the Korean words are mispronounced, but it's really not a big deal.

Uneven

It was a struggle to finish this and I found his characterization of his wife being bored with staying home with her child, tone deaf and insulting to those of us who tried for years and could not have children and now cannot afford the insane price of adoption. She should thank God for the privileged life she has and her precious children. I wish there was more on Korean Culture.

Must read for anyone working Korea!

I was a U.S. Air Force officer, in the early 90s I spent a year serving with the Korean Air Force on a Korean base, far from any U.S. installation.

This book really hit home! I wish I had read it before I went to Korea. Everything Frank says about throwing an 'America Bomb' into a Korean workplace rings 100% true.

I also agree that Korea is hard charging into a better future.

This is a must read for anyone doing business in Asia in general and Korea in particular.

And it's both funny and heartwarming.

Highly recommended.

Pretty good

I enjoyed the story and related to it, having lived in both Seoul and Jakarta. It did get a bit preachy (we’re not all bible bangers) and when he complained about being away from his wife ad nauseam I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes. I lived this my whole childhood (through no choice of my own). It’s not that hard. Sort of soured me on an otherwise interesting and good book

Great Book!

Seoul Man is a fun and interesting summary of an American's overnight entry into South Korean business and national culture. I found the stories about the little things such as asking for someone at a table too pass the salt in Korea being considered rude versus the west where it would be impolite not to to be very interesting. The deep dive into Hyundai's journey to become a global equal in auto making to its foreign rivals interesting also. Ahrens' faith is also expressed in this book but not in a way that should turn any reader off; he simply uses his faith to describe his decision making process in regard to his family, overall attitude, and career choices. A very enlightening read.

Only 50% of the book is about Korea

I do not recommend this book at all as half of the book is about the author's personal life, which has nothing at all to do with what people actually want to read about.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Very Lite

Would you try another book from Frank Ahrens and/or Frank Ahrens?

Probably not

Would you ever listen to anything by Frank Ahrens again?

Probably not

What does Frank Ahrens bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The book is well read.

Any additional comments?

This book is pretty shallow and superficial. Very much an average American goes to Korea and learns some predictable and average lessons. I didn't really think it was as funny as the blurb advertised. On a few occasions the author's cultural tone deafness and incuriosity could be considered funny I guess but I was annoyed by that point. Not badly written just not insightful. The reader and audio quality were very good.