1998, ISBN: 9780802116260

Grove Press. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1998. Hardcover. 9780802116260 . This specific hardback book is in fine condition with very minimal wear and a hard board cover that has sharp edge… More...

Grove Press. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 1998. Hardcover. 9780802116260 . This specific hardback book is in fine condition with very minimal wear and a hard board cover that has sharp edges and corners and a tight binding. The pages are clean, crisp, unmarked and uncreased with some foxing to the side page edges. The dust jacket is in fine condition with only the slightest bit of cover or edge wear. We package all books in custom cardboard book boxes for shipment and ship daily with tracking numbers.; "The narrator of Gold by the Inch, a young New Yorker of Asian descent, has returned to the country of his birth following a disastrous relationship and his father's death. Thailand is in the throes of rampant economic development, and everyone the narrator meets -- from noodle-shop owners to his own relatives to the jaded children of the rich -- seems to be drunk on the nation's financial miracle. Or high on something else. The latter is true of Thon, the very young, very beautiful male prostitute who works at a Bangkok nightclub and with whom the narrator becomes romantically obsessed. As he tries to convince himself that their affair transcends the limits of commercial love, the narrator is forced to look at the connections between desire and exploitation, personal and national identity.In succinct, luminous prose, Lawrence Chua combines vivid accounts of Southeast Asia's troubled history with evocations of its modern face: its polyglot culture, its crumbling colonial edifices, the Blade Runner futurism of its sex industry and skyscrapers. Gold by the Inch is an important addition to the growing body of literature that is defining the Asian diaspora."; 7.40 X 5.30 X 1 inches; 209 pages ., Grove Press, 1998<

ISBN: 9780802116260

The narrator of Gold by the Inch, a young New Yorker of Asian descent, has returned to the country of his birth following a disastrous relationship and his father's death. Thailand is in … More...

The narrator of Gold by the Inch, a young New Yorker of Asian descent, has returned to the country of his birth following a disastrous relationship and his father's death. Thailand is in the throes of rampant economic development, and everyone the narrator meets -- from noodle-shop owners to his own relatives to the jaded children of the rich -- seems to be drunk on the nation's financial miracle. Or high on something else. The latter is true of Thon, the very young, very beautiful male prostitute who works at a Bangkok nightclub and with whom the narrator becomes romantically obsessed. As he tries to convince himself that their affair transcends the limits of commercial love, the narrator is forced to look at the connections between desire and exploitation, personal and national identity.In succinct, luminous prose, Lawrence Chua combines vivid accounts of Southeast Asia's troubled history with evocations of its modern face: its polyglot culture, its crumbling colonial edifices, the Blade Runner futurism of its sex industry and skyscrapers. Gold by the Inch is an important addition to the growing body of literature that is defining the Asian diaspora. Media > Book, [PU: Grove Press]<

ISBN: 0802116264

Lawrence Chua has long been praised for his astute cultural commentary and experimental prose. In his first novel, Gold by the Inch, he also proves himself as a vibrant and breathtaking w… More...

Lawrence Chua has long been praised for his astute cultural commentary and experimental prose. In his first novel, Gold by the Inch, he also proves himself as a vibrant and breathtaking writer of literary prose. The narrative follows a young gay man of Asian descent as he returns to Thailand from the United States for an extended visit and to recover from his father's death and a failed love affair. After becoming involved, well, obsessed, with a young male prostitute, the narrator has to confront issues he has long avoided: national identity, the exploitation of other people, and the endless clashes between Asian and Western cultures. Like the novels of Doris Lessing and Nadine Gordimer, Gold by the Inch attempts to wed the personal with the political, the emotional with the cultural. It is as much a novel of political ideas as it is a meditation on romantic and sexual relationships. Chua's prose is boldly literary and often shocking in its simplicity; he knows the power of words and has the ability to conjure up images that surprise and resonate. contemporary,fiction,gay,gay and lesbian,literary,literature and fiction Gay, Grove Pr<

ISBN: 0802116264

Called "striking" by The New York Times Book Review, Gold by the Inch is the story of a young New Yorker of Asian descent who has returned to the country of his birth following a disastro… More...

Called "striking" by The New York Times Book Review, Gold by the Inch is the story of a young New Yorker of Asian descent who has returned to the country of his birth following a disastrous relationship and his father's death. In a Bangkok drunk on the nation's financial miracle - and high on an assortment of other things - the narrator meets Thong, a young, beautiful male hustler who works at a nightclub. As his romantic obsession with Thong grows, the narrator tries to convince himself that it transcends its commercial nature, but he is quickly forced into a hard look at the connections between desire and exploitation, personal and national identity. Lawrence Chua vividly combines Southeast Asia's troubled history with evocations of its modern face - its polyglot culture, its colonial past, the cool futurism of its skyscrapers and its sex industry. Written in hard-bitten, dazzling prose, Gold by the Inch is a stunning debut. contemporary,fiction,gay,gay and lesbian,literary,literature and fiction Gay, Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated<