{"product_id":"five-star-billionaire-9780812984811","title":"Five Star Billionaire","description":"\u003cb\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE - \u003cb\u003eNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND \u003ci\u003eBOOKPAGE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLook for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn expansive, eye-opening novel that captures the vibrancy of China today\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003ePhoebe\u003c\/b\u003e is a factory girl who has come to Shanghai with the promise of a job--but when she arrives she discovers that the job doesn't exist. \u003cb\u003eGary\u003c\/b\u003e is a country boy turned pop star who is spinning out of control. \u003cb\u003eJustin\u003c\/b\u003e is in Shanghai to expand his family's real estate empire, only to find that he might not be up to the task. He has long harbored a crush on \u003cb\u003eYinghui\u003c\/b\u003e, a poetry-loving, left-wing activist who has reinvented herself as a successful Shanghai businesswoman. Yinghui is about to make a deal with the shadowy \u003cb\u003eWalter Chao\u003c\/b\u003e, the five star billionaire of the novel, who with his secrets and his schemes has a hand in the lives of each of the characters. All bring their dreams and hopes to \u003cb\u003eShanghai\u003c\/b\u003e, the shining symbol of the New China, which, like the novel's characters, is constantly in flux and which plays its own fateful role in the lives of its inhabitants. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eFive Star Billionaire \u003c\/i\u003eis a dazzling, kaleidoscopic novel that offers rare insight into the booming world of Shanghai, a city of elusive identities and ever-changing skylines, of grand ambitions and outsize dreams. Bursting with energy, contradictions, and the promise of possibility, Tash Aw's remarkable new book is both poignant and comic, exotic and familiar, cutting-edge and classic, suspenseful and yet beautifully unhurried. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eFive Star Billionaire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Estimable . . . artful . . . Mr. Aw is a patient writer, and an elegant one. His supple yet unshowy prose can resemble Kazuo Ishiguro's. . . . He's a writer to watch.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In \u003ci\u003eFive Star Billionaire, \u003c\/i\u003e the Taiwanese-born, Malaysian writer Tash Aw chooses a refreshingly novel perspective. . . . Through five distinct Malaysian-Chinese voices, Mr. Aw wonderfully expresses the grit and cosmopolitan glamour of Shanghai today. . . . Mr. Aw has done more than merely satirize a social milieu; he has created a cast of compelling characters, all of whom have come to Shanghai to remake themselves, yet are haunted by their pasts in ways that they barely understand. . . . In \u003ci\u003eFive Star Billionaire, \u003c\/i\u003e Mr. Aw has achieved something remarkable.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \" Aw's] ever-spiraling web of connections is as improbable as it is entertaining, but he knits his various threads with an elegance . . . coupled with a photorealistic eye for the minutiae of urban life.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The ambition of the book perfectly reflects its subject. In one scene, we're introduced to a 'folk guitarist whose slangy lyrics spoke of urban migration and loneliness.' Aw might be describing himself, except that his threnodies are set to sophisticated modern jazz.\"\u003cb\u003e--Pico Iyer, \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Goes beyond the bounds of the ordinary . . .  Aw] provides a richly drawn landscape of compelling characters, and a deep immersion in their lives. . . . \u003ci\u003eFive Star Billionaire\u003c\/i\u003e is a fiercely contemporary tale of tradition, modernity and the cost of progress.\"\u003cb\u003e--Ellah Allfrey, All Things Considered, NPR\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Aw has woven an impressive and contemporary human tapestry of a country that Western audiences would do well to better understand.\"\u003cb\u003e--The Daily Beast\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/29\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780812984811\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.66lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.23h x 5.15w x 0.90d","brand":"Tash Aw","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43067644903605,"sku":"9780812984811","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_af60de21-218d-4291-a7d5-bc91214b8284.jpg?v=1690862106","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/five-star-billionaire-9780812984811","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}