The Partition

A thrilling new story collection from acclaimed writer Don Lee exploring Asian American identity, spanning decades and continents

"The Partition is flat-out brilliant: a witty, kaleidoscopic tear through questions of race and identity in America today by a writer who has wrought luminous fiction from these issues for years. Don Lee's collection offers vivid, entertaining proof that ethnicity is never straightforward or easy—no matter who we are, or where we stand."
—Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad

"Whatever you’re hiding from may find you in a Don Lee story. But this isn’t a warning. The Partition is, again and again, about Asian Americans in ways we don’t always admit we need, a collection about how we alternately cheat and show up for each other and ourselves. And the whole time, there’s a canny, shrewd love, guiding us the way through."
—Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

Twenty-one years after the publication of his landmark debut collection Yellow, Don Lee returns to the short story form for his sixth book, The Partition.

The Partition is an updated exploration of Asian American identity, this time with characters who are presumptive model minorities in the arts, academia, and media. Spanning decades, these nine novelistic stories traverse an array of cities, from Tokyo to Boston, Honolulu to El Paso, touching upon transient encounters in local bars, restaurants, and hotels.

Culminating in a three-story cycle about a Hollywood actor, The Partition incisively examines heartbreak, identity, family, and relationships—the characters searching for answers to universal questions: Where do I belong? How can I find love? What defines an authentic self?