Don Lee’s The Collective is one of those books that I saw and then arbitrarily pulled down from the library shelves. Unlike the vast majority of such books that immediately end up back on the shelf, The Collective left with me in a streak of serendipity. We have been taught to never judge a book by its cover, but by the spine is obviously a-okay.
NPR cites The Collective as a member of the collegiate canon, alongside Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot (two thumbs up) and Harbach’s The Art of Fielding (on the list). You know it is a collegiate story when the characters waste no time referencing Franny & Zooey (Chapter 4). The book opens with a suicide, and then goes back in time to introduce us to three friends in their freshman year at Macalester College. They are Joshua Yoon, Eric Cho, and Jessica Tsai, three Asian-American artists. Joshua is by far the most fascinating character, and he is also the one who kills himself in the first few pages of the book. He is fast-talking, confident, and brilliant, and it is powerful to follow his life knowing he will choose to end it. The author raises questions about art, talent, race, and our closest relationships.
NPR cites The Collective as a member of the collegiate canon, alongside Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot (two thumbs up) and Harbach’s The Art of Fielding (on the list). You know it is a collegiate story when the characters waste no time referencing Franny & Zooey (Chapter 4). The book opens with a suicide, and then goes back in time to introduce us to three friends in their freshman year at Macalester College. They are Joshua Yoon, Eric Cho, and Jessica Tsai, three Asian-American artists. Joshua is by far the most fascinating character, and he is also the one who kills himself in the first few pages of the book. He is fast-talking, confident, and brilliant, and it is powerful to follow his life knowing he will choose to end it. The author raises questions about art, talent, race, and our closest relationships.
Bonus: This book is giving my vocabulary a refresher. Great words like sobriquet, apotheosis, and prevaricate sprinkle the pages, along with California slang that is not entirely appropriate to transcribe here.
“You know it is a collegiate story when the characters waste no time referencing Franny & Zooey (Chapter 4).” That line made me giggle. I’ll have to add this to my to-read list.
This book sounds phenomenal. I love collegiate reads and haven’t found a good one since The Marriage Plot. Thanks for the heads up. Do you recommend any other books in that same vane?
http://www.southbysunset.com
Ahh finally! A non cheesy novel with non cheesy cover. I always thoroughly disagree with the statement of never judging a book by its cover. The cover is the reason we all pick up random books from bookshelves!
Nadya
Eyeshadow Illustrator
I’m hooked! I still love books about college.