Asian-American characters have never been more multi-faceted than they are in this novel that defies racial stereotypes while giving us a glimpse of the struggles of being a starving artist. Our central character gets hit by a car and dies on the second page. It is impossible to stop reading from there as we rewind several years back.
— From Kalani
“In this sometimes heartbreaking, at other times hilarious novel, Eric Cho contemplates the life of Joshua Yoon, the Korean novelist with whom he, along with provocative visual artist Jessica Tsai, once formed the 3AC or Asian American Artists Collective, first in college and later in Cambridge. What may have led Joshua to commit suicide - or was it? - by running into the path of an oncoming car? Lee once again tackles identity themes, but this time through the lens of the college novel. A triumph!”
— Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, WI
"Riveting, moving, and—most impressive—agile and resourceful in its approach to race. Don Lee explores that issue from every conceivable angle, raising a thousand questions and undercutting easy answers." —Jennifer Egan
Joshua Yoon, Eric Cho, and Jessica Tsai arrive at Macalester College with different baggage but a singular and overpowering ambition—to become artists. As the years progress, their resolve is tested first by an act of campus racism and later, while they’re living together as adults in Cambridge, by a set of real-world demands and distractions that ultimately drive them in vastly different directions. A dazzling exploration of racial identity and the queasy position of the artist in contemporary America, Don Lee’s latest is a landmark achievement—his most funny, tragic, and revealing book yet.
Winner of the 2013 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
