"Beauty Despises Me is a collection of by turns sad and funny stories about the thwarted expectations of the young as they grow older. HeeKyung's characters are misfits who by virtue of their bodies or their lack of social status are left to dream of momentous changes that will never come. Unsatisfied with work, with family, with friends, they lose themselves in diets, books, and blogs. Heekyung's collection humorously but humanely depicts the loneliness and monotony found in many modern lives."--