{"product_id":"land-of-big-numbers-book-te-ping-chen-9781471190612","title":"Land of Big Numbers","description":"‘Te-Ping Chen’s Land of Big Numbers contains 10 illuminating, sharp stories set in China, penned by a former investigative reporter who worked in Beijing for several years’ The Independent ‘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’​ Cosmopolitan  A dazzling debut collection which, deftly and urgently, tells the stories of those living in the biggest and most complicated country on earth.    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.   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.   “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   \"Te-Ping Chen shows us how much life, loss, and quiet pleasure exists in the world, just out of view.\" Alexandra Kleeman","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49585700765969,"sku":"GOR012805338","price":12.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50468955816209,"sku":"NGR9781471190612","price":14.89,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52987677147409,"sku":"GOR014681533","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1471190617.jpg?v=1751339501","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/land-of-big-numbers-book-te-ping-chen-9781471190612","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}