Overview
āMai Nardone is a writer with an atlas straight to the heart. I did not want to put this book down and neither will you.āāC Pam Zhang, bestselling author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold
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, weād 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 Thailandās 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, itās Nam who ultimately adapts to the capitalās 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 familiesāNam, 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 brothersāwho employ various schemes to lie, betray, and seduce their way to the āgood life.ā
These disparate citizens of Bangkok orbit each other over the next three decadesāsometimes violently, passionately colliding. Through skin-whitening routines, cult conversion, gambling, and sex work, the collectionās characters look for reinvention in a city buckling under the weight of its own modernity.
Wildly imaginative and ambitious, Mai Nardoneās stories reveal the growing discrepancy between Bangkokās 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.
This book title, Welcome Me to the Kingdom (Stories), ISBN: 9780593498187, by Mai Nardone, published by Random House Publishing Group (February 14, 2023) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer Welcome Me to the Kingdom (Stories) books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order Welcome Me to the Kingdom (Stories) books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!