- Blurb -
An immersive debut set across the temples, slums, and gated estates of late-twentieth century Bangkok, Welcome Me to the Kingdom tells the story of three families striving to control their own destinies in a merciless, sometimes brutally violent, metropolis. We came with the drought. From the window of the train, the rich brown of the Chao Phraya River marked the turn from the northeast into the central plains. We came for Bangkok on the delta. The thin tributaries that laced the provinces found full current at the capital. And in the city, we' d heard, the wealth was wide and deep. In 1980, young lovers Pea and Nam arrive in Bangkok in search of a life, and a world, beyond Thailand' s rural outskirts. Thirty days, they promise each other. Thirty days for Pea to find work, for him to put aside his violent and unstable past and take root in this strange new land. But Bangkok does not want for male laborers, especially teenage boys with thick provincial accents, and when time finally runs out on their promise, it' s Nam who ultimately adapts to the capital' s ruthless logic and survives. Spanning decades and perspectives, seamlessly shifting between the absurd and the tenderhearted, the interwoven stories of Welcome Me to the Kingdom introduce three families-Nam, her American husband, Rick, and their daughter, Lara; Vitat, a Thai Elvis impersonator, and his only daughter, Pinky; and Tintin and Benz, orphans who have adopted each other as brothers-who employ various schemes to lie, betray, and seduce their way to the "good life. " These disparate citizens of Bangkok orbit each other over the next three decades-sometimes violently, passionately colliding. Through skin-whitening routines, cult conversion, gambling, and sex work, the collection' s characters look for reinvention in a city buckling under the weight of its own modernity. Wildly imaginative and ambitious, Mai Nardone' s stories reveal the growing discrepancy between Bangkok' s smiling self-image and its ugly underbelly, and, in the process, offer a striking portrait of a city unmade by the whims of global capitalism, in a kingdom caught between this world and the next.
- Author Bio -
Mai Nardone is a Thai and American writer whose work has appeared in American Short Fiction, Granta, McSweeney' s Quarterly, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. He lives in Bangkok. Welcome Me to the Kingdom is his first book.
- Full Details -
Status: | No local stock, title imported to order |
ISBN-13: | 9780593498187 |
Published: | 14 Feb 2023 |
Published In: | United States |
Imprint: | Random House USA Inc |
Publisher: | Random House USA Inc |
Format: | Hardback |
Height: | 242mm |
Width: | 163mm |
Spine: | 24mm |
Weight: | 482g |
Pages: | 288 |
- Delivery ETA -
In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.
Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.
International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ.
Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.
Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)
Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.
View our full Order & Delivery information
- Notify Me When Back In Stock -
Details of the product above will be automatically included with your enquiry.