Gold by the Inch

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 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, as well as 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.

Author: Lawrence Chua
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 09/13/1999
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780802136497