Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner Announces New Memoir Thank You for Your Suffering

Knopf Sets April 2027 Release for Second Memoir

Japanese Breakfast frontwoman Michelle Zauner is returning to publishing with a second memoir, titled Thank You for Your Suffering. Knopf has scheduled the book for release on April 27, 2027, according to announcements from the publisher and reporting by Rolling Stone.

The upcoming book follows Zauner through a year of living in South Korea. There, she attempted to learn the Korean language in order to read a diary left by her late mother and forge a deeper connection with her family in Seoul. Interviews with the artist show the project proved more complicated than initially anticipated. She confronted the brutal difficulty of intensive language schooling and unexpected pressures on her marriage to her husband and bandmate, Peter Bradley.

A New Phase Beyond Crying in H Mart

Unlike her 2021 debut memoir, Crying in H Mart, the new book captures a different phase of personal and cultural exploration. Her debut focused heavily on her upbringing, her relationship with her mother, and the grief of losing her to cancer.

Interviews published by ELLE reveal the memoir’s title derives from the Korean expression “gosaeng haesseoyo.” It is a phrase used to acknowledge someone’s hard work or effort.

Navigating Seoul and Family History

During her time abroad, Zauner forged new friendships and explored Seoul’s underground culture. She also spent time with her mother’s sister and began performing songs in Korean.

Her perspective on her family shifted during the process. She contrasted her childhood view of her mother as a stoic, elegant figure with her aunt’s recollections of a mischievous younger sister who stole money and put out cigarettes on a desk.

To me, my mom was this very stoic, beautiful, very elegant and meticulous woman. And my aunt is like, no, that’s the annoying little girl that would put out cigarettes in my desk and steal my money. And I was like, what?

Michelle Zauner told ELLE

Publishing Phenomenon and Musical Parallels

Zauner’s first memoir became a publishing phenomenon. It spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list after its 2021 release. Previous coverage by SPIN and Rolling Stone noted she was already contemplating a follow-up work around that time, telling reporters that perspective tends to create the strongest writing.

Her engagement with her Korean heritage has consistently paralleled her musical output with Japanese Breakfast. Following the release of her 2021 album Jubilee, which leaned into themes of joy and recovery from grief, the band released a Korean-language version of the track “Be Sweet” featuring So!YoON! of SE SO NEON in 2022.

Upcoming Chapters On Stage and at Home

Beyond her writing and recording projects, Zauner announced in June that she and Bradley are expecting their first child. Japanese Breakfast’s most recent live performance took place in July, when the band opened for Death Cab for Cutie in Raleigh, North Carolina.