With wit, tenacity, and compassion, "The Collective" explores the dream of becoming an artist and questions whether the reality is worth the sacrifice. Eric Cho, Jessica Tsai, and Joshua Yoon—two aspiring writers and a painter—meet in college in the late ‘80s. It is Joshua’s presence in their lives—enormous, brilliant, manipulative, and dangerous—that rallies them together. The novel’s present-day is years after the three have left college and recently after Joshua has committed suicide. "The Collective" brilliantly sorts through issues of friendship, intimacy, idealism, art, sacrifice, racism, and publicity. Don Lee is a phenomenal writer that you absolutely should know, and "The Collective" is a book you absolutely should read. Get two pages in and you’ll know I’m right.
