Star Tribune and MPR present Talking Volumes -- Talking Race with CHANG-RAE LEE
Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune are proud to announce a special series of Talking Volumes virtual events centered around the topic of race in America. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated economic disparities faced by communities of color. The killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer sparked protests around the world. We are bringing together a diverse group of authors to talk about their books, which all provide unique insights on America’s growing racial divide. All events will be held via webinar and will include an hour-long interview with the authors and a live interactive panel discussion moderated by the Star Tribune.
Hosted by Brandt Williams.
Chang-rae Lee My Year Abroad: A Novel releases on February 2, 2021 by Riverhead Books.
About the book
Tiller is an average American college student with a good heart but minimal aspirations. Pong Lou is a larger-than-life, wildly creative Chinese American entrepreneur who sees something intriguing in Tiller beyond his bored exterior and takes him under his wing. When Pong brings him along on a boisterous trip across Asia, Tiller is catapulted from ordinary young man to talented protégé and pulled into a series of ever more extreme and eye-opening experiences that transform his view of the world, of Pong, and of himself.
My Year Abroad is also an exploration of the surprising effects of cultural immersion—on a young American in Asia, on a Chinese man in America, and on an unlikely couple hiding out in the suburbs. Tinged at once with humor and darkness, electric with its accumulating surprises and suspense, My Year Abroad is a novel that only Chang-rae Lee could have written, and one that will be read and discussed for years to come.
About the author
Chang-rae Lee is the author of Native Speaker, winner of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for first fiction, as well as On Such a Full Sea, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and The Surrendered, winner of the Dayton Peace Prize and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Chang-rae Lee teaches writing at Stanford University.
Tickets
Tickets for these events are available until 10:00am the morning of the webinar.
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