{"product_id":"gold-by-the-inch-a-novel","title":"Lawrence Chua: Gold by the Inch [1999] paperback","description":"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 a 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, 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.","brand":"Chua, Lawrence","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":49219463676243,"sku":"9780802136497","price":14.27,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"Very Good","offer_id":47334506725715,"sku":"XV80802136497","price":7.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/chua-lawrence-lawrence-chua-gold-by-the-inch-1999-paperback-58296826691923.jpg?v=1727040545","url":"https:\/\/theirishbookshop.live\/products\/gold-by-the-inch-a-novel","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}