{"product_id":"what-a-time-to-be-alive-a-novel-1","title":"What a Time to Be Alive: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 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 past\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLola 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDriven 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. \u003ci\u003eWhat a Time to Be Alive\u003c\/i\u003e asks if we can look honestly at the world and still love it; the answer is a brilliant, resounding yes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jade Chang","offers":[{"title":"Trade Paperback","offer_id":55251341738275,"sku":"9780063416406","price":15.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0930\/2258\/5123\/files\/9780063416406.jpg?v=1781802955","url":"https:\/\/epicreads.com\/products\/what-a-time-to-be-alive-a-novel-1","provider":"Epic Reads","version":"1.0","type":"link"}