Korea: How You Feel is a first person narrative told through Mike, who is a first time English teacher during the beginnings of the late 1990’s Asian financial crisis. He enters life in Korea as an English teacher with the hopes of cleaning his life up, but quickly spirals towards its seedy underbelly. Along the way he meets a cast of freaks, both expatriate and Korean. I guess you could say all his hopes and desires slowly fade away and he becomes a misfit.

In what way?
Korea: How You Feel is no holds barred exposé of the darker side of expatriate life. The book is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

What genre is it?
It would fall into literary fiction if I had to pick a genre.

If you like Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski and William S. Burroughs you’ll love Korea: How You Feel. They were sort of the influences I exorcised writing this book.

We see what you mean about ‘gritty’; we love Henry Miller.
Korea: How You Feel started a few years ago when I read Black Spring by Henry Miller. The whole time I was reading Black Spring, I kept thinking it’s got three really good stories and filler. And, this was by Henry Miller. So, I decided to try and write a book based upon my experiences and the stories I’ve heard over the years teaching English in South Korea.

Let’s go back to Mike. Tell us about him.
Mike is a composite of a few people, including myself. I wouldn’t say he is someone I’d like to be. He’s someone that I’ve been at times, a person trying to find his way living abroad.

Is this the first time you’ve written about your expatriate experience?
This is my first published book. I have a novella set in Paris that will be published later this year.

Do you have a website that’ll let us know when it’s published?
No.

But you’re on social media, right?
https://www.facebook.com/ManheimWagner
@ManheimWagner.

What’s next?
I have a bohemian tale of attraction, What a Day for a Night, set for an autumn publication. I stole the title from a Paul Westerberg song and the story recounts a romantic encounter of two people, meeting for only the second time in life. It’s one of those…if you could live one day again things, set in Paris.

If you were in your twenties during the 1990s and into alternative music and art, this book should be right up your alley.