{"product_id":"what-a-time-to-be-alive-9780063416390","title":"What a Time to Be Alive","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA deeply moving and often hilarious novel following a woman who becomes an internet folk hero in the most unexpected way, catapulting her into fame and influence just as she's finally beginning to reckon with her complicated past\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eL\u003c\/strong\u003eola Treasure Gold can't figure out her life. She's broke, unemployed, and back in her childhood home, a crumbling cottage in the Hollywood Hills. Worse--unspeakably worse--one of her closest friends has just died. So nobody is more surprised than Lola when a jackpot falls in her lap: she stars in a viral video, opening a surprising path for her to become a self-help guru.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the encouragement of her other best friend, Celi--still alive, thank god--Lola embraces the public interest in her perceived message. But is she a scammer or a sage? Just as Lola is telling others to be their own guiding lights, she can't seem to find hers: she's grieving; she's accused of using the notoriety of her friend's death to fuel her rise; and she's full of questions about the fate of her mother, who came to America pregnant, fleeing China's one-child policy, got deported when Lola was eight, and now has totally disappeared.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDriven by an exuberant, searching spirit, Jade Chang's kaleidoscopic new novel is a deep examination of the ways we commodify belief, the power and precarity of fame, and the delicious terror of being truly seen. \u003cem\u003eWhat a Time to Be Alive\u003c\/em\u003e asks if we can look honestly at the world and still love it; the answer is a brilliant, resounding yes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChang, Jade:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eJade Chang's debut novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Wangs vs. the World\u003c\/em\u003e, won the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and has been published in a dozen countries. Her journalism and essays have recently appeared in \u003cem\u003eThe Best American Food Writing\u003c\/em\u003e, and in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times \u003c\/em\u003emagazines. She also writes for film and TV. She lives in Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51624082407698,"sku":"9780063416390","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_11f1e721-bc09-4d84-9191-bb2982e89839.jpg?v=1758653790","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/what-a-time-to-be-alive-9780063416390","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}