Fixer Chao - by Han Ong (Paperback)

About the Book

"A cult classic, FIXER CHAO-which was named a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year-by New Yorker contributor Han Ong, delivers a sharp and insightful narrative about racial and social hierarchy, personal identity, and alienation William Paulinha, a resourceful, gay Filipino sex worker, is attempting to turn over a new leaf when he crosses paths with Shem C.-a disgraced author cast out by both his spouse and New York's elite literary circles. Seeking retribution, Shem enlists William in his scheme to strike back at the world that dismissed him, forming an unlikely alliance. What begins as a friendship soon morphs into an elaborate con. With Shem as his mentor, William reinvents himself as Master Chao, a highly sought-after Feng Shui consultant. As their scheme grows in scale and sophistication, William is drawn deeper into the lives-and secrets-of the city's wealthy and powerful. Blending sharp satire with poignant reflections on identity, ambition, and deception, the novel charts one man's journey through transformation, illusion, and the unexpected costs of the American Dream"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A cult classic, Fixer Chao--which was named a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year--by New Yorker contributor Han Ong, delivers a sharp and insightful narrative about racial and social hierarchy, personal identity, and alienation

William Paulinha, a resourceful, gay Filipino sex worker, is attempting to turn over a new leaf when he crosses paths with Shem C.--a disgraced author cast out by both his spouse and New York's elite literary circles. Seeking retribution, Shem enlists William in his scheme to strike back at the world that dismissed him, forming an unlikely alliance.

What begins as a friendship soon morphs into an elaborate con. With Shem as his mentor, William reinvents himself as Master Chao, a highly sought-after Feng Shui consultant. As their scheme grows in scale and sophistication, William is drawn deeper into the lives--and secrets--of the city's wealthy and powerful. Blending sharp satire with poignant reflections on identity, ambition, and deception, the novel charts one man's journey through transformation, illusion, and the unexpected costs of the American Dream.

"An astringent depiction of the high life and the low in Manhattan. . . .[Fixer Chao] is a novel that, for its images and metaphors, draws on an impressive range of sources. . .and it takes a deep, knowing look inside the immigrant dream."
--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World

"Ong [has a] gift for quick, acerbic caricatures and piercing observations about contemporary culture."
--The New York Times

"Fixer Chao is an extremely satisfying and even moving novel....An unrelenting aria of high bitchiness and scathing satire."
--Salon

About the Author

HAN ONG is an American playwright and novelist. He has written fourteen plays and two novels: Fixer Chao, first published by FSG in 2001, and The Disinherited, published in 2004. Chao has published stories in The New Yorker and Zoetrope and is the recipient of the Joseph Kesselring Prize for his play Swoony Planet, as well as a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction, and the TCG/NEA Playwriting Award. Fixer Chao was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year in 2001, and The Disinherited was nominated for a Lambda Book Award in 2005. Ong lives in New York.