{"product_id":"spent-bullets-9780063435919","title":"Spent Bullets","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSet in Taiwan and the Silicon Valley, a collection of linked stories that explore the meaning of success and the purpose of existence, centered on the short life and long shadow of an engineering genius who descends deeper into despair while rising higher on the professional ladder.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe hard-working geniuses of \u003cem\u003eSpent Bullets\u003c\/em\u003e are the crème de la crème of the meritocracy. Educated in the best schools in Taiwan, they move to lucrative positions in America's big tech, reaching the pinnacle of career prestige. Yet there is a dark side to their relentless focus and achievements.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn an age that idolizes success, Terao Tetsuya's piercing collection explores the grotesque contortions of psyches shaped by hyper-competitive systems, where the measure of one's worth is a capacity for suffering--witnessed through the brief, shining life of Jie-Heng, a prodigy who can solve any logic problem--but not the problem of human relations. Jie-Heng mostly does what is expected of him, even if it means diminishing his individuality. A young man with no center to ground him, he tries to fit in, yet fails to connect because of other people's fear, misunderstanding, resentment, and obsessive adoration.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis most vital deviation is a perverse, longstanding relationship with Wu Yi-Hsiang, a tormentor turned lover who offers a thin tether to reality. Wu Yi-Hsiang is fascinated by Jie-Heng's intellect and, with his own anxious need to please, carefully tends to Jie-Heng's desire for debasement. When Jie-Heng's yearning to embrace the void is tragically realized, he leaves behind a host of unanswered questions, complicated feelings, and cohorts who carry his memory like a bullet in a glass case that will never tarnish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA searing look at our time and culture, Terao Tetsuya exposes the absurdity of striving: to make money, to be a better person, to be someone you're not. With cool, calculating precision, he illuminates the promise and peril of gifted young people who patiently bear the burdens of their fate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranslated from Chinese by Kevin Wang\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTetsuya, Terao:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTerao Tetsuya\u003c\/strong\u003e graduated from National Taiwan University with degrees in Computer Science Information Engineering. He earned a master's degree in software engineering from Carnegie Mellon and worked as an engineer at Google before turning to writing full-time. His debut short story collection \u003cem\u003eSpent Bullets\u003c\/em\u003e won Taiwan Literature Awards' Golden Book Award and the New Bud Award. He lives in Taiwan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWang, Kevin:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKevin Wang\u003c\/strong\u003e is a Taipei-based writer and Fulbright grantee with an MFA from Columbia University. His co-translation of Chi Ta-wei's \u003cem\u003eHistory of Tongzhi Literature\u003c\/em\u003e is forthcoming from Columbia University Press. He has published in \u003cem\u003eGulf Coast\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCircumference\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Margins\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eAsymptote\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harpervia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51649031504146,"sku":"9780063435919","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_16bafde9-da52-462e-af9d-c45f4b022449.jpg?v=1759843489","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/spent-bullets-9780063435919","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}