Chen Yu-te

Nobody: a Novel by a Taiwanese Author Chen Yu-te

He lost just about everything. Now, he'll do everything it takes to get it back...

Amid the economic and cultural upheaval taking place in Taiwan in the mid-twentieth century, the narrator of Nobody finds success in the emerging plastics industry. With a booming business and growing family, he appears to have it all. Then problems at the business reverberate through his personal life. With unpaid debts, the book's unnamed subject finds himself on the run from the authorities-wanted under a cruel law that carries prison terms for bad checks. Add to that a philandering lifestyle destined to complicate matters, and the stage is set for a dramatic shift in fortunes.

At once startling and deeply moving, Nobody details one man's devastating slide into emotional and financial turmoil-and his unceasing drive to get back on track. Through it all, a series of lovers will prove to be his most steadfast allies. But this richly detailed and true-life work is also a rare peek inside an era of Taiwanese business and culture, where strict precepts on behavior and mores mask a climate in which even the slightest missteps carry severe consequences...