Description
Book Synopsisa society in which the dual systems of Communist Era state control and an emerging entrepreneurial culture exist in paradox.
A top ranked junior tennis player in the U.S., Chase joins the practices of the Beijing National Junior Tennis Team and is immersed in the brutal, cut-throat world of Chinese sport.
Trade Review"Simple but wonderful...authentic, pure and heartbreaking... (Thornton) is an exceptionally gifted young writer." -- Mo Yan, 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature "This unsettling book about the moral encounter between America and China is a study of privilege, innocence, and risk. It is a tragedy of manners and a portrait of Beijing -- amplified and torqued and unmistakable." -- Evan Osnos, autor of Age of Ambition, winner of the National Book Award "A coming-of-age story that vividly encapsulates the complexities of the modern encounter between China and America. Indeed, this is in many ways the quintessential 'Chimerican' novel for the millennial generation. Disarming in its candor, addictively readable." -- Niall Ferguson, author of Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist and Civilization J.R. Thornton has given his lucky readers a compelling story of innocence and experience, of east and west, of sport and pastime. Thornton is a writer of formidable talent and deep heart, and this nuanced and moving novel marks his arrival as a significant new voice in contemporary fiction. -- Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This "Compelling and authentic... a story of China as told by an outsider. Through the perspective of a young American, we can see a different side to our country and ourselves - one that is unfamiliar, but real." -- Yu Hua, winner of the James Joyce Award and the Grinzane Cavour Prize
