The Collective

The Collective (2012) by Don Lee. The Collective is about Asians in America. More precisely, it is about young Asian artists who try to adjust to life in a predominantly Anglo culture, not always with success. The narrator, Eric Cho, is an aspiring writer, and together with Joshua Yoon and Jessica Tsai, he forms the 3AC -- the Asian American Artists' Collective. The collective grows over the years until there are something like 20 members, and later it falls apart. Members fall in love, take trips together, critique each other's art, and make art together. The action is always filtered through an Asian perspective, and it's amazing how many ways you can say "Asian" that are not complimentary. Apparently Lee has heard them all at some point. Anyway, this is a pretty good book -- not great, but good. I stayed with it all the way to the end, which is saying something. Grade: B