{ "item_title" : "What a Time to Be Alive", "item_author" : [" Jade Chang "], "item_description" : "LONGLISTED FOR THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARDA deeply moving and often hilarious novel following a woman who becomes an internet folk hero in the most unexpected way, catapulting her into fame and influence just as she's finally beginning to reckon with her complicated pastLola Treasure Gold can't figure out her life. She's broke, unemployed, and back in her childhood home, a crumbling cottage in the Hollywood Hills. Worse--unspeakably worse--one of her closest friends has just died. So nobody is more surprised than Lola when a jackpot falls in her lap: she stars in a viral video, opening a surprising path for her to become a self-help guru.With the encouragement of her other best friend, Celi--still alive, thank god--Lola embraces the public interest in her perceived message. But is she a scammer or a sage? Just as Lola is telling others to be their own guiding lights, she can't seem to find hers: she's grieving; she's accused of using the notoriety of her friend's death to fuel her rise; and she's full of questions about the fate of her mother, who came to America pregnant, fleeing China's one-child policy, got deported when Lola was eight, and now has totally disappeared.Driven by an exuberant, searching spirit, Jade Chang's kaleidoscopic new novel is a deep examination of the ways we commodify belief, the power and precarity of fame, and the delicious terror of being truly seen. What a Time to Be Alive asks if we can look honestly at the world and still love it; the answer is a brilliant, resounding yes.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/06/341/639/0063416395_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "28.99", "online_price" : "28.99", "our_price" : "28.99", "club_price" : "28.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "28.99" } }

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The death of authenticity amid the pursuit of clicks and popularity is at the heart of What a Time To Be Alive, a dark and sometimes satirical social commentary. When her childhood friend Alex dies, Lola Treasure Gold’s moment of heartbreak and vulnerability is captured on video. Overnight, the broke and broken 31-year-old is launched into social media stardom as a spiritual self-help speaker. Though hesitant at first to assume this persona, Lola is quickly enticed by the attention and praise, and the influx of money to pay off her debts. As Lola embraces her admirers and wrestles with critics who say she has made a sham of her friendship with Alex by exploiting his death, she must discover for herself the point at which authenticity becomes performance, and what this role truly costs her. Examining the motivation and sincerity of influencer culture is a timely and compelling endeavor. Chang weaves poignant observations on grief and mortality into her descriptions of a generation that lives their lives in public. The behind-the-scenes glimpses of influencer strategies, such as Lola studying the posts of others to discover what makes someone popular, are engaging and ring true. However, while Chang’s prose is often immersive, at times Lola’s stream of consciousness weighs down the narrative or verges on moralizing. The aspect of Lola’s backstory involving China’s one-child policy and its impact on Lola and her mother also feels undeveloped. Still, What a Time To Be Alive casts a keen eye on the frenzy of social media and the disingenuous and addictive world of influencers and the influenced.