The most acclaimed recent book on the country is Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by Barbara Demick, a foreign correspondent for The Los Angeles Times. It was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award and took home the Samuel Johnson Prize in Britain.In his review of the book in The New York Times, Dwight Garner wrote: 'Ms Demick's book is a lovely work of narrative non-fiction, one that follows the lives of six ordinary North Koreans, including a female doctor, a pair of star-crossed lovers, a factory worker and an orphan. It's a book that offers extensive evidence of the author's deep knowledge of this country while keeping its sights firmly on individual stories and human details.'
In the same review, he considered The Hidden People Of North Korea: Everyday Life In The Hermit Kingdom by Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh (US$32.53, Amazon.com), saying it was 'wonkier than Ms Demick's and less reader-friendly, but it covers more ground'.
