LEADER 02229nam a2200121 a 4500
001 1139380
008 221212s2022 nyu g 000 1 eng d
020 $a9780593184738$q(hbk.) :$cUSD26.00
040 $aDLC$beng$cDLC$dOCLCF$dOCLCO$dY#5$dOCLCO$dOCO$dJPL$dVP@$dOCLCO$dRNL$dTWTNM
082 04$a813/.6$223
100 1 $aLi, Grace D.
245 10$aPortrait of a thief :$ba novel /$cGrace D. Li.
260 $aNew York :$bTiny Reparations Books,$cc2022.
300 $a375 p. ;$c24 cm.
520 $a"'Ocean's Eleven' meets 'The Farewell' in this lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums, about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity. History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now. Will Chen plans to steal them back. A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents' American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible -- and illegal -- job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago. His crew is every heistarchetype one can imagƯine -- or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a pre-med student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: LilyWu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valleysoftware engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down. Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars -- and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they've dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted atƯtempt to take back what colonialism has stolen"-- Provided by publisher.
650 0$aChinese Americans$vFiction.
650 0$aCultural property$vFiction.
650 0$aChinese diaspora$vFiction.
650 0$aArt thefts$vFiction.
650 0$aArt, Chinese$vFiction.
650 0$aCollege students$vFiction.