888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers

"Abraham Chang's novel, packed with pop culture, is wonderfully alive. This is a beautifully tender and funny examination of love, of identity, of making your way in a world that is getting bigger and smaller at the same time." --Kevin Wilson, bestselling author of Nothing To See Here

Young Wang has received plenty of wisdom from his beloved uncle: don't take life too seriously, get out on the road when you can, and everyone gets just seven great loves in their life--so don't blow it. This last one sticks with Young as he is an obsessive cataloger of his life: movies watched, favorite albums . . . all filtered through Chinese numerology and superstition. He finds meaning in almost everything, for which his two best friends endlessly tease him. But then, at the end of 1995, when Young is at New York University, he meets Erena. She's brilliant, charismatic, quick-witted, and crassly funny. They fall in love and, for Young, it feels so real that he's thrilled and terrified. As Young and Erena's relationship blossoms, we get flashbacks to Young's first five loves. That means Erena is "number six." Was his uncle wrong--is she the one and only? Or are they fated for failure to make room for Young's final, seventh love?

A love letter to Western pop culture, Eastern traditions, and being a first-generation New Yorker, Abraham Chang's dazzling debut reminds us that luck only gets us so far when it comes to matters of the heart.

Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published: 04/30/2024
Pages: 400
Weight: 1lbs
Size: 9.25h x 6.12w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781250910783


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 12/01/2023 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2024
Publishers Weekly 03/25/2024

About the Author
Abraham Yu-Young Chang is an award-winning, published poet with an MFA in creative writing from New York University. He has worked in the publishing industry since 2000 and currently manages Special Sales for Simon & Schuster. He lives in Forest Hills, Queens, with his wife.