{"product_id":"land-of-big-numbers-2","title":"Land of Big Numbers","description":"\u003cb\u003e‘Te-Ping Chen’s \u003ci\u003eLand of Big Numbers\u003c\/i\u003e contains 10 illuminating, sharp stories set in China, penned by a former investigative reporter who worked in Beijing for several years’ \u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘In this magnificent collection of stories, the author and former Beijing-based correspondent vividly captures the desires and losses of a richly drawn cast while drawing on the realities of contemporary China’​ \u003ci\u003eCosmopolitan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA dazzling debut collection which, deftly and urgently, tells the stories of those living in the biggest and most complicated country on earth. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A brother competes for gaming glory while his twin sister exposes the dark side of the \u003cb\u003eCommunist\u003c\/b\u003e 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 \u003cb\u003eShanghai\u003c\/b\u003e are stalled when she finds herself working as a florist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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 \u003cb\u003eChina\u003c\/b\u003e and unveils a cast of characters as rich and complicated as any in \u003cb\u003eworld literature\u003c\/b\u003e. 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\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.” \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMadeleine Thien, author of the Booker-shortlisted \u003ci\u003eDo Not Say We Have Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Te-Ping Chen shows us how much life, loss, and quiet pleasure exists in the world, just out of view.\"\u003cb\u003e Alexandra Kleeman    \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e        \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  ","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39697612210259,"sku":"9781471190612","price":15.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781471190612_8ba27974-fa0f-4a46-84de-4a042651b866.jpg?v=1778651147","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/land-of-big-numbers-2","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}