The Collective (36 page)

Not long after the accident, I received an envelope. It was addressed to me in Huron Village in Joshua’s familiar chicken-scratch scrawl. He had misspelled the street name and put down the wrong zip code, transposing the first and second numbers, so the envelope first went to Calverton, Virginia, then was rerouted to Cambridge, then had to be forwarded to me in North Carolina. The original postmark was the Saturday of his death. I let the envelope sit on my desk all afternoon, overcome by what I might find inside. At last, I opened it. All it contained was a utility bill and a check.

I could imagine an accounts receivable clerk at NStar opening the envelope that Joshua must have mailed on the same morning, the clerk unfolding the letter that was within, looking curiously at it for a second, not exactly surprised, since this sort of thing happened practically every day, before tossing it into the recycle bin—whatever it was that Joshua had meant to tell me.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This novel would not have been possible without a residency provided by the Lannan Foundation. Thanks to Jo Chapman, Martha Jessup, Douglas Humble, Ray Freese, and, of course, Patrick Lannan, and to all the townspeople of Marfa, Texas, in particular Tim Johnson and Caitlin Murray.

For their editorial insights and support, I would like to thank my editor, Alane Salierno Mason; my agent, Maria Massie; and my friends Jennifer Egan and Fred Leebron.

I’m also indebted to Hans Evers, Katherine Bell, Kathy Herold, Ben Lerner, Paul Yoon, Richard Haesler, Maryanne O’Hara, Ruth Ernst, Om Paramapoonya, Elliott Holt, Meghan O’Rourke, Alan Vana, David Opdyke, Leland Cheung, Don Smith, Katie Mitchell, and the Corporation of Yaddo for their assistance.

Thanks, too, to Denise Scarfi, Dave Cole, Don Rifkin, and Alice Rha at W. W. Norton.

More praise for

The Collective

“Hilarious and winning … smoothly told… . Threads a perfect line between the theoretical dogfights of the classroom and the actual dogfight of experience.”

—John Freeman, Boston Globe

“Lee comes with an agenda—an important one—about ethnicity and art, but he also delivers a heartbreaking, sexy, and frequently funny story about fractured friendships.”

—Stephan Lee, Entertainment Weekly

“Smart, subdued… . Lee, a third-generation Korean-American, is obviously familiar with the complexity of identity fixation, and his characters ultimately discover the danger of becoming martyrs to a cause.”

—The New Yorker

“Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious… . Lee explores themes of identity he’s contemplated in the past—the allure of the cultural bond, the bristle of the stereotype—but this time through the lens of the college novel.”

—Susan Stamberg, NPR

“Brilliantly sorts through issues of friendship, intimacy, idealism, art, sacrifice, racism, and publicity.”

—Rachel Meier, Christian Science Monitor

“Offering strong characterizations and thought-provoking prose, Lee addresses the Asian American experience from various vantage points, realistically examining themes ranging from personal relationships to racism and artistic censorship. His novel has enough depth to spark uninhibited discussion in any book group and, given its time frame, will have special meaning for Gen X readers.”

—Shirley N. Quan, Library Journal

“Lee smashes Asian stereotypes to pieces to present a provocative look at what it truly means to have one’s identity tied to not just oneself but also an entire race.”

—Carolyn Kubisz, Booklist

“We’re huge fans of the campus novel, and this morning we’re adding another great one to our collection: Don Lee’s The Collective.”

—Emily Temple, Flavorwire

“Engrossing… . A compelling work of literature.”

—Noah Cho, Hyphen magazine

“Lively and suspenseful, this novel masterfully probes the high-stakes contest between integrity and belonging. Lee’s sympathy for his deeply human characters will captivate any reader.”

—Sun Yung Shin, Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Lee is a fine prose stylist who shares something of Philip Roth’s talent for digressing into tangential episodes without ever halting the momentum of his narrative. Here, he credibly addresses the political and social concerns of a specific demographic, while also rendering a work that will feel relatable to nearly everyone who reads it.”

—Timothy Bracy, Time Out

“The Collective is an enjoyable feast of artistic abandon, one that sweeps up readers in a colossal tidal wave of bewilderment, as these protagonists go on to have their shares of success and failures.”

—Zachary Houle, PopMatters

“Lee manages to pull the dialogue away from the traditional parent-child storyline that often overwhelms the themes of many Asian stories… . If life imitates art, then perhaps this novel could serve as a different life beyond the normal art we see. Lee ought to be commended for pushing the envelope.”

—bigWOWO blog

“The Collective is, undoubtedly, [Lee’s] most personal novel, although don’t let the overlaps with his real life fool you—Lee’s an incorrigible storyteller.”

—Terry Hong, Bookslut

“A must-read for everyone interested in the discussion of racial identity and its place in our supposedly post-racial world.”

—Poornima Apte, BookBrowse

Copyright Š 2012 by Don Lee

All rights reserved

First published as a Norton paperback 2013

An excerpt from this book originally appeared in Narrative magazine.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,

write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact

W. W. Norton Special Sales at [email protected] or 800-233-4830

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lee, Don, 1959–

The collective : a novel / Don Lee. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-393-08321-7 (hardcover)

1. Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3562.E339C65 2012

813’.54—dc23

ISBN 978-0-393-34542-1 pbk.

eISBN: 978-0-393-08395-8

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

Table of Contents

Also by Don Lee

Title Page

Praise for The Collective

Copyright