Description: "Follows Craig Thompson and his siblings--who spent the summers of their youth weeding and harvesting rows of coveted American ginseng on rural Wisconsin farms for one dollar an hour--and interweaves this lost youth with the three-hundred-year history of the global ginseng trade and the many lives it has tied together. Stretching from Marathon, Wisconsin, to northeast China, [the book] charts the rise of industrial agriculture, the decline of American labor, and the search for a sense of home in a rapidly changing world"--
Review Quotes: "An engaging piece of long-form journalism . . . Ginseng Roots is Thompson's most visually arresting work so far . . . His most interesting characters contain subtle subversions, have surprising motivations, or remain mysterious even to themselves."
--New York Times Book Review
--NPR
"Craig Thompson's sometimes aching reflection on his roots in the soil and culture of rural Wisconsin is also a tender love letter to ginseng and to the diverse, compelling, and often quirky people who struggle to make it grow. A sweeping story, gorgeously drawn and beautifully told -- this is Craig Thompson's masterpiece."
--Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Paying the Land "Soulful, funny, and exquisitely drawn. Like Blankets, Ginseng Roots is a modern classic: moving, and weirdly educational--a gentle yet perspicacious story of global politics, capitalism, religion, and life at the edges of all of those forces."
--The Guardian "Craig Thompson's new graphic novel is a towering achievement . . . nothing else like it exists."
--The Observer "Returning to Craig's roots in rural Wisconsin, Ginseng Roots is part systems exploration, part cultural history -- but most uniquely, it is an exercise in journalistic listening as an act of devotion. Even as Craig painfully questions his upbringing and his own beliefs about work, he expresses a hope for healing and an ultimate acceptance of imperfection and grace."
--Thi Bui, author of The Best We Could Do
"Craig Thompson's best book-length comic, full stop. It's a formal triumph, a pained and complicated human story, and a didactic marvel -- something I expect to reread and dip into again and again. Quixotic, genre-defying, and strange."
--Charles Hatfield, The Comics Journal "An epic accomplishment . . . . Ginseng Roots is what it should be: a medicinal herb you steep in. And it's the right medicine for the moment . . . a layered, rhizomatic reading experience."
--Hyperallergic "Poignant and memorable . . . a spectacular and inspired graphic memoir that traces the many threads of a remarkable root."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[Thompson's] signature style . . . remains as affecting as ever, creating another painstakingly multilayered title to add to shelves everywhere, including (hopefully) again, in his parents' home."
--Booklist (starred review) "A feat of generous observation, this stands with Thompson's very best work."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A visually rich, emotionally resonant work of true ambition and sophistication from one of the most sensitive storytellers currently working in any medium or genre."
--Library Journal