For some reason it wouldn't load. Sorry I didn't get a chance to read it. But I don't want to leave 1 star. All other reviewers seemed to really like it so I'm giving a 4.
So bummed.

A collection of short stories that make the reader think about how a government and the society it creates can truly affect it's citizens. Te-Ping Chen's stories have a lot of commentary on the Chinese government, how it has influenced the lives of the people, how the economic boom has left many of it's citizens behind trying desperately to claw themselves up from poverty, and how all these aspects affect every day life. Some of the stories are raw and realistic, others are allegorical and deeply absurd. However, all the stories are well written and draw the reader in. The characters are not necessarily relatable, but readers will care about their predicaments. The stories really showcase China in a way that I think most readers haven't encountered, and it's a story collection that I've been waiting for for quite awhile.

Lulu: 5/5 - A story of twins going down diametrically different paths. Lulu, the overachieving daughter destined for greatness and her twin brother who would much rather play videogames all day. But what seem like the best choices for life aren't necessarily where our passions lie.

Hotline Girl: 4/5 - Is it really possible to start from a blank slate and fully remove oneself from everything they're running away from?

New Fruit: 4.25/5 - A new fruit has been created that is not only sweet and delicious, but also has drastic effects on mood. A lot of commentary on communities and government which were unexpected from the premise of the story, but very well handled.

Field notes on a Marriage: 3/5- The only story not from the point of view from someone of Chinese descent. Instead, an American wife is trying to understand her aloof husband who doesn't want to talk about his life in China. I think this is a story that suffered from authors more direct less emotional writing style.

Flying Machine: 4/5 - A man is desperate to be able to join the party, he just needs the right invention to wow the local party secretary into letting him in. It's equal parts unbelievable in how things are being created, but so believable in the desperation and need in the characters that it makes for an enjoyable story.

On the Street Where You Live: 2/5 - Murder and mayhem, but who is the victim in the end? I didn't get it and just wasn't a fan of this story.

Shanghai Murmur: 3.5/5 - When you work and are surrounded by people who seem to have immeasurable wealth, but live in a dilapidated building where someone has recently died nothing seems fair. What's the fastest way to lift oneself out of poverty.

Land of Big Numbers: 4.25/5 - When hardwork isn't enough to get rich quick, the stock market may seem like a quick and easy way to get some money. But like all things, it's a system that benefits people who are already wealthy. If you don't have the money to make the investments, what else would you risk?

Beautiful Country: 4/5 - A different type of story set in Arizona. A young woman who has recently immigrated to America takes a trip to the Grand Canyon with her American boyfriend. Is it love or is it settling? It's jarring to have a story set in America between two very Chinese stories, and I didn't know quite what to make of it. On it's own, the story is interesting and I was invested in the character.

Gubeikou Spirit: 5/5 - My favorite story of the book and the most absurd and unrealistic of the stories. Trapped in a subway station because of a delayed train, a group of citizens must make the best of the situation as the delay goes on for much longer than anyone could have anticipated. Clearly a story with a lot of commentary about the endless propaganda that the government churns out and how easy it is to just go along with it for survival purposes.

39/50=3.9/5 rounds to 4/5.

I don't think any of the stories really have happy endings, some don't really have endings per se. Just like life, things aren't resolved with a bow and the characters will continue to live their lives.

I think this book just wasn't for me. I love deeper explorations of diaspora because it gives you a chance to think about people in a more nuanced way, rather than being treated as a monolith. The magical realism just isn't always my cup of tea. I think some parts of the narrative were much better for me than others. That being said, I liked the style and pacing of the writing, so I would definitely read this author again!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed these stories which gave me a better understanding of Chinese culture. I haven’t seen a lot of books about that so I really enjoyed that aspect. Nice collection of short stories.

I finally got the chance to pick this up again when my library bought the digital audiobook version. My ARC copy was broken, and I could only read the first two pages when I received this from NetGalley. However, despite the challenges in getting to read this collection of short stories, I'm glad I was able to listen to this on audio.
Once again, I went into this blind and therefore had no idea it was going to be a collection of short stories until the first one had ended and I started into the second one. Each of the short stories gets its own distinct narrator and is separated by some eerie music, which lends itself well to differentiating the stories from one another. Each of these stories is set in modern day China, in different cities and parts of the countryside. Some of these stories are realist fiction, some have a touch of magical realism to enhance the overall eerie content of these stories. Each of the characters is so different, from a man gambling with on cryptocurrency to two twins that grow apart as one becomes an activist, to a group full of people stuck in a train tunnel waiting on a train to come for weeks (months?) on end until they remain out of complacency.
I enjoyed the haunting quality that was present throughout. After a few of the stories, I got the vibe that nothing would turn out quite perfectly, and I spent the rest of each story waiting for the shoe to drop in unique and sometimes unexpected ways. Te-Ping Chen's writing felt concise, yet descriptive enough to paint a picture of what each characters' lives were like. I don't read much fiction from China, and enjoyed the varied look at what lives might be like to live there. I hope to hear more from Chen, and I plan to seek out additional Chinese fiction to get a broader picture of modern China.

Te-Ping Chen has knocked it out of the park with this short story collection. She's extremely wise and engaging and has one of the strongest voices I've ever read in a debut. I'm so glad I read through this.

Lulu: 5-stars. Emotional start to this collection. At it's core it's a story about how strong a sibling bond can be, with the back drop of severe state abuse. It left me with a perpetual lump in my throat, especially towards the last few pages.

Hotline Girl: 5-stars. There are people we knew as children that when they come back into our lives can create a severe disruption, even if that normalcy is unusual. I found this to be very uncomfortable and disturbing.

New Fruit: 4-stars. When something new and unusual is introduced to a community, it can have a lasting effect for years to come. Very sinister in it's telling, yet borderline hypnotic. It didn't pull me in as deeply as the previous two stories but it's absolutely effective.

Field Notes on a Marriage: 4-stars. The people we marry aren't always what they're cracked up to be, but in the end how can we be so sure it was real. Melancholic in tone and dramatic, though I wasn't big on how it wrapped up.

Flying Machine: 4-stars. Is it truly a fruitless effort to try and impress an entity that absolutely has no interest in you as an individual, or is it more for self-fulfilment? Fairy-tale like in it's execution which made it more interesting.

On the Street Where You Live: 5-stars. Melancholic in tone but ultimately sinister in tone. It's how an obsession can turn into a sort of long-distance possession.

Shanghai Murmur: 3-stars. How easy it for a good deed to become one you regret? One of the most Lynchian stories in the collection. There was something deeply disturbing about this story, but beyond that it wasn't extremely compelling.

Land of Big Numbers: 5-stars. Gentrification, social status, government lies, deceit, and the influence of money are all tightly wrapped into a very compelling story of innocence turned to greed. Excellent story!

Beautiful Country: 5-stars. Infidelity and how deep it can make a relationship complex are the stars of this frustrating, well-written story that really kept me captivated.

Gubeikou Spirit: 4-stars. Really engaging story about a group of people who get trapped on a train platform for an extended period of time. It's basically the experience of immigrants to the US, but a bit too on the nose for my liking.

Huge thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy that I was too late in reading before it expired, my apologies. I bought a physical copy to read through.

The ten stories in this brilliant collection portray the ordinary lives of Chinese people: students, revolutionaries, inventors, call center workers. The stories offer a glimpse of the true breadth of all that's unique about this vast nation, including its food, history and culture, in a way that highlights the universal human experience.

What I found most intriguing is the almost creepy, subtle undertone that makes readers ponder free will versus fate, individual choice versus authoritarian control.

This book has ten beautifully written short stories - each with everyday life events for people that are trying their best to fit into this world.

Most of the stories take place in China with government involvement. The first one is about a talented twin who has posted notes about justice on the internet and ended up in jail at the expense of her disappointed family. It sets the tone for the rest of the pieces with an emphasis on family and people in the community. Another is about a girl that works in a "Satisfaction Office" for the government making me wonder if this really exists. It's followed by a story about a new fruit that sounds inviting but maybe not. Each one is different.

Some made me smile as she said, "Arizona is like living on Mars." Some made me sad when a young man wanted to impress his community with a new plane invention that didn't work out. One made me think about money as the young man lost a good deal from gambling with stocks and borrowing from a friend. Each one is thought provoking.

The stories are all unique. Of course, there are a few I enjoyed more than others but it's a great collection. I will look forward to more books from this author.

Land of Big Numbers has a gorgeous cover and everytime I opened my arc I went to the cover page to gaze. What a beauty! If you think short story collections aren't for you, this book will change your mind. I enjoyed reading a story each night before bed. It's the perfect nightstand read because you can accomplish the satisfaction of 'one more chapter' before lights out.

Inspired by Chen’s experiences as a Beijing and Hong Kong correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, most of the stories are set in China. Some offer a slice-of-life feel while others lean into surrealism and symbolism, often with overtones of political commentary. Highly recommend. Thank you netgalley for my ARC!

An excellent collection of stories set mostly in modern-day China, giving readers a fresh perspective on the people and their lives, and the cultural shifts occurring, mainly grounded in realism, but with some fantasy elements thrown in for good measure. From the siblings, flipping expectations on their heads - he the gamer loser, she the superstar student, who grow up into a successful pro-gamer and an imprisoned dissident, respectively, all the way through to a group of commuters stuck on a station platform for days, each story introduces vividly drawn characters who jump off the page and into your imagination. A hugely impressive debut collection.

An illuminating short story collection of a vivid portrayal of ordinary men and women in contemporary China and its diaspora..

When I read the blurb that I would be reading about contemporary China, the following questions came to mind; What is life for “ordinary” people in modern present day China?, How do they achieve their dreams?, How does the past influence their present expectations?, and How different is their lives than mine?.
Chen’s fusion of her sharp journalist observations and her fictional ingenuity provided the answers to my questions.

What I learned from the deftly presented storylines is that hope is universal and what helps to keep our dreams/goals alive, when there are hitches in your goals (and there will be) and feelings of loneliness, unfairness, and oppression prevails, let the little things you have achieved provide comfort and contentment.
While for me I felt the hover of the government over the characters lives, the way Chen effectively meshes this as a quiet force was one of the strengths on this collection.

This is a collection that grew on me over the reading of the stories, and I look forward to reading more by the author.

3.5 stars.

This was quite a solid debut short story collection! I enjoyed most of the stories here, although I will say that the best adjective I can think of to describe this collection is unsettling. Many of these stories had a touch of the bizarre or a deep-seated longing/unfulfillment, which I found fascinating. As some other reviewers have mentioned, some of the stories do end a bit abruptly, but I thought most of them reached a satisfying, if inconclusive, ending. Favorites of the collection include Hotline Girl, Field Notes on a Marriage, and Beautiful Country.

I was drawn to this absolutely stunning cover and the contents did not disappoint! I'm usually not one for short stories but I thoroughly enjoyed every story in this collection. I developed a better understanding of the cultural, economic, and societal factors at play in modern China and would recommend to anyone looking to do the same!

I usually have a problematic relationship with short stories. It takes a lot for it to feel complete enough in those few pages that amount to a story. Given this background, I am usually wary of picking up a collection. Then again, the rewards on a good day weigh heavier, and I was really tempted by this one. The idea that these were based in China was one of the draws.
Unfortunately, these did not work for me. Most are well written, and they depict a life that seems only mildly different instead of vastly as promised by the blurb. Some of them briefly enter into magical realism but, for the most part, stick to the regular life of people caught into the trap of routine and mundane while being sometimes dangerous to their mind and body as well. The one that actually managed to make a mark was actually something touted as the usual, a story where people are trapped on a station for days on end where no visible walls are holding them in. This was interesting, believable, while sad. Many of the stories were unhappy, and I usually elaborate on individual ones, but I would end up saying the same thing for all of them this time around. It starts off well, but I did not like any of the endings and felt dissatisfied when setting them aside. It is a quick read which is a bonus. I would still recommend it to those on the lookout for short stories based in unlikely settings since it is not hard to read through them all. It is also the kind of content you can hold debates about at book clubs!
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience (as is evident from my post)

A very interesting collection of short stories set in China or with characters from a Chinese diaspora. Spanning from realistic modern day to dystopian settings, this was a collection of stories that I didn't expect to read for sure. I especially enjoy the ending of many of these stories, as they are beautifully ambiguous and leaves space for the reader's imagination. All around a very neat book to read, although I don't find the book description that accurate. Although it does depict the realities of modern Chinese culture and modern history, I find the settings more dystopian in most stories.

Land of Big Numbers is a collection of shorts based on life in the modern day People's Republic of China, the world's most populous country and an emerging veritable super power. Chen includes 10 stories about Chinese people; the way they live, work, survive and thrive in sprawling cities, in rural villages, and overseas. She covers government, politics, and interpersonal relationships, from the sublime to the surreal.

Thank you to HMH Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I lived in China for years during my childhood and also have traveled there, so this book was such a joy to read. It’s an incredible collection of stories about China and life in China, and I think it will be illuminating to all readers.

While I found the short stories interesting, I can't say that any of them had that *WOW* factor, which was mildly disappointing. The writing seemed average to me — nothing particularly special, and while the premises of each individual short story were interesting, I felt like their merits were sold short by mediocre execution.

Recommended with caution.

3 and 1/3 stars. A first short-story collection set mostly in contemporary China's third- and fourth-tier cities, and an attempt to translatable these lives to make them legible for an Anglophone readership. For all of the vividness with which she renders her protagonists' emotional lives, Chen tends to collapse the distance between them and her readers, but rather than producing empathy, it has a numbing and distancing effect. Despite the layers of convincing journalistic detail about digital surveillance, state repression, online day-trading, and endless shopping malls, many of these stories just didn't ring true for me.

Two magical realist stories, "New Fruit" and "Gubeikou Spirit," stand out from the pack, and were the highlights of the collection for me (a third, "Flying Machine," is more droll and less successful). The remaining stories are in a social-realist mode. And aside from "Lulu," the excellent first story about the diverging lives of twins, the rest of these pieces blur into each other: they follow the same algorithm of a competently constructed New Yorker short story. Each concludes on the same note: an artfully inconclusive and elliptical final sentence.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

“Land of Big Numbers” is a collection of 10 short stories by Te-Ping Chen that has glowing reviews. And it’s listed on several “anticipated reads” lists for 2021. Unfortunately, it fell short for me. Many of the stories were about everyday life experiences, and too many seemed too melancholic. And despite the slow character building, several stories were cut much too short leaving me wanting more. The most appealing of the collection included “New Fruit” and “Lulu.”

Special thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the digital copy, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.