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Ginseng Roots

A Memoir

Part of Pantheon Graphic Library

Author Craig Thompson
Hardcover
$35.00 US
Knopf | Pantheon
6-1/2"W x 9"H
On sale Apr 29, 2025 | 448 Pages | 9780593700778
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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“A sweeping story, gorgeously drawn and beautifully told — this is Craig Thompson’s masterpiece.” —Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Paying the Land

From the celebrated author of Blankets and Habibi comes a new graphic memoir exploring the class divide, childhood labor, family, and our globalized world—all centered on Wisconsin's ginseng farming industry

When Blankets first published in 2003, Craig Thompson's seminal memoir about first love and faith lost in rural Wisconsin debuted to rapturous acclaim. The winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, it is to this day considered one of the all-time great works of graphic storytelling. Now, in Craig's long-awaited return to the autobiographical form, comes the story that Blankets left out.

Ginseng Roots follows Craig 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. In his trademark breathtaking pen-and-ink work, Craig interweaves this lost youth with the 300-year-old history of the global ginseng trade and the many lives it has tied together—from ginseng hunters in ancient China, to industrial farmers and migrant harvesters in the American Midwest, to his own family still grappling with the aftershocks of the bitter past. 

Stretching from Marathon, Wisconsin, to Northeast China, Ginseng Roots charts the rise of industrial agriculture, the decline of American labor, and the search for a sense of home in a rapidly changing world.
© Phil Thompson
CRAIG THOMPSON’s previous graphic novels include Blankets (for which he received three Harvey Awards for Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and Best Cartoonist; and two Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist); Goodbye, Chunky Rice; and Carnet de Voyage. He lives in Portland, Oregon. View titles by Craig Thompson
“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 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

About

“A sweeping story, gorgeously drawn and beautifully told — this is Craig Thompson’s masterpiece.” —Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Paying the Land

From the celebrated author of Blankets and Habibi comes a new graphic memoir exploring the class divide, childhood labor, family, and our globalized world—all centered on Wisconsin's ginseng farming industry

When Blankets first published in 2003, Craig Thompson's seminal memoir about first love and faith lost in rural Wisconsin debuted to rapturous acclaim. The winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, it is to this day considered one of the all-time great works of graphic storytelling. Now, in Craig's long-awaited return to the autobiographical form, comes the story that Blankets left out.

Ginseng Roots follows Craig 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. In his trademark breathtaking pen-and-ink work, Craig interweaves this lost youth with the 300-year-old history of the global ginseng trade and the many lives it has tied together—from ginseng hunters in ancient China, to industrial farmers and migrant harvesters in the American Midwest, to his own family still grappling with the aftershocks of the bitter past. 

Stretching from Marathon, Wisconsin, to Northeast China, Ginseng Roots charts the rise of industrial agriculture, the decline of American labor, and the search for a sense of home in a rapidly changing world.

Author

© Phil Thompson
CRAIG THOMPSON’s previous graphic novels include Blankets (for which he received three Harvey Awards for Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and Best Cartoonist; and two Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist); Goodbye, Chunky Rice; and Carnet de Voyage. He lives in Portland, Oregon. View titles by Craig Thompson

Praise

“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 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

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