Hospital chaplain and author J.S. Park has published We Are Made of Us, a new book examining how family histories, grief and chosen communities shape people’s understanding of themselves. Released by Tarcher on October 20, the 256-page work draws on Park’s experience supporting patients and families during illness, crisis and end-of-life care, as well as his own family background.
Park’s central subject is not simply how to improve relationships. It is how relationships that existed before a person could make choices may continue to influence the choices they make now. Family expectations, unspoken losses and inherited stories can affect the way people interpret conflict, loyalty and belonging. The book asks readers to consider those influences without treating their family history as an unchangeable verdict.
The publisher describes three circles through which Park approaches the subject. The first is the family of origin, including the people who raised us and the patterns learned early in life. The second is chosen family, the people and communities with whom we build connection as adults. The third reaches beyond immediate relationships to ancestors, distant relatives and people whose influence continues after death.
That structure gives the book a wider scope than conventional advice about setting boundaries with relatives. It allows Park to consider what is received from family, what can be questioned and what forms of belonging can be created deliberately. The account also draws on his perspective as the son of Korean immigrants, bringing cultural expectations and intergenerational experience into the discussion.
Park’s work as a hospital chaplain is an important part of the book’s context. People facing serious illness or loss may revisit unresolved relationships, remember old conflicts or recognize how strongly they remain connected to family narratives. These encounters inform the book’s interest in reconciliation, grief and the limits of easy solutions. The publisher describes the material as combining personal stories, research and trauma-informed principles.
For coaches and personal-development practitioners, the publication is a reminder that a client’s sense of self may be shaped by more than individual habits or mindset. Relationships and social context can matter just as much as private motivation. The book’s framework may prompt questions about belonging and inherited expectations, but it should not be mistaken for a clinical protocol or a guarantee that every difficult family relationship can be repaired.
The timing also reflects growing interest in intergenerational experience within mainstream personal-development publishing. Park offers a perspective rooted in witnessing people during vulnerable moments rather than in promising a rapid transformation. His book gives that perspective a concrete structure, inviting readers to distinguish the stories they carry from the relationships they still have the freedom to build.
Source: Penguin Random House, official publisher listing (October 20, 2026)
Web: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/796363/we-are-made-of-us-by-js-park/
