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Portrait of a thief : a novel  Cover Image Book Book

Portrait of a thief : a novel / Grace D. Li.

Li, Grace D., (author.).

Summary:

"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 heist archetype one can imag­ine--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: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software 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 at­tempt to take back what colonialism has stolen"-- Provided by publisher.

Available copies

  • 3 of 3 copies available at Skagit Evergreen Libraries. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Upper Skagit Library District. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Upper Skagit Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 3 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Upper Skagit Library LI 1013855 Mystery/Thriller Available -

LDR 04105cam a22006378i 4500
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008211013t20222022nyu e 000 1 eng
010 . ‡a 2021050011
040 . ‡aDLC ‡beng ‡erda ‡cDLC ‡dOCLCF ‡dOCLCO ‡dY$5 ‡dOCLCO ‡dOCO ‡dJPL ‡dVP@ ‡dOCLCO ‡dRNL ‡dJQW ‡dOCLCO ‡dYU6 ‡dIMT ‡dOCLCO
019 . ‡a1287033144 ‡a1290493032 ‡a1291403554 ‡a1306069018
020 . ‡a9780593184738 ‡q(hardcover)
020 . ‡a0593184734 ‡q(hardcover)
020 . ‡z9780593186077 ‡q(ebook)
035 . ‡a(OCoLC)1260820368
042 . ‡apcc
05000. ‡aPS3612.I136 ‡bP67 2022
08200. ‡a813/.6 ‡223
049 . ‡aMAIN
1001 . ‡aLi, Grace D., ‡eauthor.
24510. ‡aPortrait of a thief : ‡ba novel / ‡cGrace D. Li.
263 . ‡a2204
264 1. ‡a[New York] : ‡bTiny Reparations Books, ‡c[2022]
264 4. ‡c©2022
300 . ‡a375 pages ; ‡c24 cm
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
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 heist archetype one can imag­ine--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: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software 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 at­tempt to take back what colonialism has stolen"-- ‡cProvided 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.
650 6. ‡aAméricains d'origine chinoise ‡vRomans, nouvelles, etc.
650 6. ‡aChinois ‡zPays étrangers ‡vRomans, nouvelles, etc.
650 6. ‡aVol d'objets d'art ‡vRomans, nouvelles, etc.
650 6. ‡aArt chinois ‡vRomans, nouvelles, etc.
650 6. ‡aÉtudiants ‡vRomans, nouvelles, etc.
650 7. ‡aFICTION / Asian American ‡2bisacsh
650 7. ‡aFICTION / Crime ‡2bisacsh
650 7. ‡aFICTION / Cultural Heritage ‡2bisacsh
655 0. ‡aMystery fiction.
655 0. ‡aSuspense fiction.
655 2. ‡aFictional Work
655 7. ‡aNovels. ‡2fast ‡0(OCoLC)fst01921742
655 7. ‡aDetective and mystery fiction. ‡2lcgft
655 7. ‡aThrillers (Fiction) ‡2lcgft
655 7. ‡aNovels. ‡2lcgft
655 7. ‡aRomans. ‡2rvmgf
77608. ‡iOnline version: ‡aLi, Grace D. ‡tPortrait of a thief ‡dNew York : Tiny Reparations Books, [2022] ‡z9780593186077 ‡w(DLC) 2021050012
938 . ‡aYBP Library Services ‡bYANK ‡n17546970
938 . ‡aBrodart ‡bBROD ‡n130316016
994 . ‡a92 ‡bBGTON
905 . ‡ubplcat
901 . ‡a305676 ‡bAUTOGEN ‡c305676 ‡tbiblio

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