{"product_id":"land-of-big-numbers-te-ping-chen-9781398503366","title":"Land of Big Numbers","description":"\u003cp\u003eA dazzling debut collection which, deftly and urgently, tells the stories of those living in the biggest and most complicated country on earth. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e A brother competes for gaming glory while his twin sister exposes the dark side of the Communist government on her underground blog; a worker at a government call centre is alarmed one day to find herself speaking to a former lover; a delicious new fruit arrives at the neighbourhood market and the locals find it starts to affect their lives in ways they could never have imagined; and a young woman's dreams of making it big in Shanghai are stalled when she finds herself working as a florist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e These are just some of the myriad lives to be evoked in The Land of Big Numbers, a collection of stories which - sometimes playfully, sometimes darkly - draws back the curtain on the realities of modern China and unveils a cast of characters as rich and complicated as any in world literature. With virtuosic brilliance, Te-Ping Chen sheds light on a country much talked about but little understood and announces the birth of a bright new star in the literary firmament. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"A spectacular work, comic, timely, profound. Te-Ping Chen has a superb eye for detail in a China where transformation occurs simultaneously too fast and too slow for lives in pursuit of meaning in a brave new world. Her characters are achingly alive. It's rare to read a collection so satisfying, where every story adds to a gripping and intricate world.\" Madeleine Thien, author of the Booker-shortlisted Do Not Say We Have Nothing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \"Te-Ping Chen shows us how much life, loss, and quiet pleasure exists in the world, just out of view.\" Alexandra Kleeman\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Te-Ping Chen","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":43174412353779,"sku":"9781398503366","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/products\/9781398503366.jpg?v=1662064836","url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/products\/land-of-big-numbers-te-ping-chen-9781398503366","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}