Fixer Chao: A Novel

by Han Ong

Han Ong has written a brilliant exploration of race and class, of character and identity, and of the slippery natures of privilege and expertise. William Paulinha, a Filipino street hustler, is in the early days of self-imposed reform when he meets Shem C. A failed writer now ostracized by his wife and New York City's literati, Shem recruits Paulinha to retaliate against the community that has spurned him. Under Shem's guidance, Paulinha becomes Master Chao, a revered practitioner of Feng Shui—the Chinese art of creating a harmonious environment. As this latter-day confidence man cuts a swath through upper-crust society, his biting observations form a comic picaresque of class resentment and revenge.

Genres: Fiction, Queer, Novels, LGBT, Gay, Literary Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2001

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite funny. Quite thought-provoking. Quite inspiring. Quite disgusting. The reading is easy and Master Chao somehow represents the many Filipinos who migrated to the Big Apple trying to earn their own place under the sun.

This is the story of William Narciso Paulinha who migrated to the United States when he was a teenager. For an unknown reason, he landed as a street hustler, giving oral sex to lonely men inside toilet cubicles at a bus station in New York. There he meets Shem C a fellow Asian who, like William, is not happy with what they are doing. Shem introduces William to the art of feng shui and so William transforms himself to Master Chao a fake feng-shui expert from Hong Kong. With a complete but convincing lie, the two fool the rich and famous New York clientele to the extent of them amassing great wealth that equals most of their own patrons.

The story is about east and west and never the twain shall meet. But here they did meet in the person of Master Chao. It's just that the feminine east was able to fool the masculine west. I italicized the two genders because I never thought of the east and west having genders and I don't know where Han Ong got the idea. I have been working in multinational (mostly American) companies since I started working almost 3 decades ago and once I heard from a colleague that some crazy Americans look at Asian men always with doubt as to their sexual preference especially during the initial encounter. So, this east and west of Han Ong must be in line with that.

This picaresque novel is inspiring because the poor William is able to rise from practically rags to riches in the Big Apple. However, the end does not justify the means. It is still not moral and ethical to fool people even if you are pushed to the brink of despair and hopelessness. However, I cannot give this less than 3 stars because I felt triumphant for Master Chao. When push comes to shove, when it a choice between sinking or swimming, when the tough gets going, Filipinos sure know how to rise from the challenges. That made me like this novel and don't ask me to explain further.

Long live Master Chao!

[Paul Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding literary debut by playwright Han Ong, Fixer Chao manages to be a brilliant satire of the excesses of elitist Manhattanites in the late 90s, while at the same time managing to be a riveting portrait of a failed American dream. Darkly funny and at times very touching, this novel delves into many themes and is a roller coaster of a ride for both us and our protagonist

William Narcisco Paulinha is a simple, humble man, an immigrant for whom the American Dream has fallen terribly short. Smarter than his circumstances would indicate, William is a thoughtful man, one who would rather devalue himself than others, a mind-set completely opposite of the cut-throat world of Manhattan in which he lives. These days, he types manuscripts for aspiring writers, a much better job than his previous outing as a hustler turning tricks in the Port Authority bus terminal. Lonely and frustrated, William is above all a man who wants to do good, and he is on the verge of turning his life around when a fateful meeting takes place.

One night, at a seedy bar William frequents, he meets Shem, an abrasive, bitter man recently thrown out of his home by his wife, the daughter of a famous novelist. Shem is a social climber (though not terribly good at it), a struggling novelist and a relatively unsuccessful author of celebrity profiles. Having never quite fit into Manhattan’s elite, Shem has a plan, a way to exact revenge upon those who see themselves better, smarter and more talented than poor old Shem. Knowing the lemming like quality of the city’s upper crust, Shem knows exactly where to hit them, right in their own naiveté. His targets have all the right clothing, the perfect cars, the buzz-inducing interior designers, but most of all they have the desire–no, the absolute need–to be at the forefront of the latest trends, every hot “new thing.” Shem has everything he needs to succeed, everything except the Chinese man who can pull it all off.

Shem propositions William to take part and become William Chao, a Feng Shui expert from the mysterious East. Shem explains that all William need do is learn a little about the ancient art and ingratiate himself to the elitists to whom Shem will introduce him. From there, it is simple…enter into their homes and do exactly what they want. Arrange their homes to capture the chi, make their living spaces a conduit for successes even beyond their own imaginations. And when he has won their trust, when their lives are on the upswing because of Master Chao’s remarkable gift, pull the rug out from under them by doing one thing wrong. Leave out one simple aspect–a mirror is the wrong place, a bed facing an open doorway–something small that will cause their lives to unravel.

William agrees and embarks upon an adventure that works perfectly as he–no, his alter ego, the Fixer Chao–is lauded and rises to the level of celebrity, the man who can make everything right, the Master whose ancient art can only improve one’s life. But just as William becomes enamored with his new persona, with his life amongst the well-to-dos, and starts believing that he does have the “gift,” Shem reminds him that it is time to turn the tables. A deal is a deal after all.

Slowly, Fixer Chao weaves subtle mistakes into his work, things no one–especially those who truly know nothing about so mysterious and alluring an art–will notice. And lives begin to unravel. Is it because Master Chao has the power, or is it simply the upper crust’s own foibles leading to their downfall? Even William is not quite sure. But just when everything is working perfectly, William meets Kendo, the moody, sexy, appealing son of one of Fixer Chao’s most famous clients. And when Kendo catches on to William’s real identity and the game he is playing, more than just Kendo’s mother’s life begins to fall apart.

For me, Fixer Chao was a book I just didn’t want to see end. Ong’s style is seamless, his words deftly drawing not only a caricature of the time, but a rich life into which one is absorbed. He balances the opulence and excesses of the high-life in Manhattan with the dreary reality of William’s real life, and in the process creates two completely opposite worlds co-existing in the same space. The character of William is almost an anti-hero, someone who is terribly flawed, but someone for whom you just want everything to turn out right. And when William meets Kendo, the spark, the attraction is palpable. You just want them both to get together, get away from the shackles of their respective lives. But this isn’t a fairy-tale. There isn’t a happily ever after here.

Ong has a masterful hand at the prose, rich without ever falling into excesses. He draws his characters fully, with a deft hand, and makes us care about them despite ourselves. The result is a truly satisfying story with wonderful social commentary. It is a story about a twisted sort of love…the love of self, the love of the spotlight, the love of success, but over all, this is a biting satire about the lengths anyone can go to when they are tempted…or naive enough to believe. This isn’t a romance by any stretch, but if you like your gay men complex, funny and a little bit messy, this is highly, highly recommended and one of my essential gay-themed books.

Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wacky novel of deceit captures the precarious and confusing opulence of the late-90s, pre-9/11 New York City. William Paulinha, a Pilipino “street hustler” is trying to make good on himself but finding it more difficult than he’d expected. When an opportunity presents itself to him for one last hustle that promises him enough capital to finally move away from the seedy underbelly of NYC, he takes it. In this book, that opportunity is Shem, a disgruntled writer recently cast aside by his wife and father-in-law, the illustrious novelist Bill Hood. Shem (appropriately named) enlists William, ostensibly purely for the racist reasoning that he looks the part, to act out the part of ‘Master Chao,’ a Feng-Shui expert – in an era where all of the uptown elite is looking to grab at this latest imported (fetishized) trend, which will gain them access to his former peer’s lives and ultimately destroy them by reflecting their own shallow, feebleness back upon themselves.
Written by Han Ong, a successful playwright of the early 2000s, the novel does have a sort of dramatic stage-like presence in the way each character moves/is directed through each scene. It was a lot of fun to view this world through William’s eyes, especially as he projects a serene, worldly presence to others while thinking ridiculously funny, bitchy thoughts about them. It felt very much like a crack-up of a Jay McInerny or Tom Wolfe novel through a totally difference perspective. All in all, it was a little too long and overwritten for my taste (often times taking 10+ pages to get through something that, in my opinion, could have been expressed in 1-2pgs), but generally a very enjoyable beach read!

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A street hustler impersonates a Feng Shui master and tends the chi of NYC's wealthy. I enjoyed it until about halfway thru and then, it became a bit of a slog.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Han Ong is an exceptional wordsmith. His ability to turn a phrase and use of metaphors are wonderful. And the plot he has created -- a story of a down-and-almost-out Filipino in NYC who gets a chance at salvation -- quickly draws the reader into a realm of two extremes: that of the upper-crust New York society of snobbish elite, and that of the very near hand-to-mouth existence of the ambitionless. And this is where I think the novel runs into trouble. Because these two extremes are actually very much alike and Ong does an exceptional job showing the reader how alike they are. But by the end of the story, the protagonist misses his opportunity to rise above both existences and transform his own life in the direction his heart tries to move him. Instead, the protagonist slips back into a defeated acceptance of his lot as being unchangeable. But it was only unchangeable because he eschewed the opportunity to transform himself. If anything, the novel succeeds in portraying the premise that good intentions don't matter if you cannot summon the actions to follow up the intention.

William Paulinha is an intelligent Filipino squandering his life in New York City. After going through the superficial and promiscuous lifestyle of being a hustler, he manages to get along typing manuscripts for others. He is an astute observer of human nature, but he's stuck whining about how everyone else is getting along. Along comes Shem, an angry Jew bent on revenge by proxy and who enlists Paulinha in a scam to get even with the folks he believes have wronged him. It's a scam that appeals to Paulinha: he is to portray himself as a Chinese expert in feng shui and must re-arrange the homes of New York's snobbish elite with a twist -- he must suggest to a client something absolutely wrong so that the feng shui doesn't bring harmony, but chaos and ruin.

Donning the persona of Master Chao, Paulinha reveals to us the schemes and self-centered nature of the elite, as well as the emptiness of their existence. He begins to realize that to desire wealth and comfort won't bring him the satisfaction and happiness that he desires, and he also begins to see how his duplicity by playing the role of Master Chao may prevent him from achieving his goal of being a better person. The reader also sees fine examples of how people at both ends of the spectrum are just as unethical and just as selfish as the other. It's a dog-eat-dog world no matter what your social or economic standing. For a time, I was rooting for Paulinha, hoping he could break away from this selfish existence, but I was disappointed. In fact, Paulinha was sort of anachronistic in that he had such keen intelligence and perspicuity, yet apparently lacked something to make it all work to his advantage. He seemed swept along by a destiny he had no control over, and as a reader that frustrated me. It must be noted that Paulinha's middle name is Narciso, perhaps an allusion to the Greek myth of Narcissus. Like Narcissus who was enamored by his own beauty, Paulinha becomes enamored of his new found power and status in the role of Master Chao, but it was disappointing that Paulinha fell to the same demise as Narcissus.

This may have been Ong's intention from the start, to show how difficult it is to break away from our current condition and that many people fail such attempts. And maybe my non-Asian mind and experiences hindered my ability to appreciate some of the book's nuance. But as a reader, I want to read about a character that does succeed. Ong had me rooting for Paulinha throughout most of the book, but toward the end Paulinha had lost my support.

[Virgowriter (Brad Windhauser) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. At the sentence level the book is written well. The story also has a lot of potential. However, a number of plot points felt too easy. A street hustler becomes a savy enough person to dupe rich people in a matter of days by reading two magazines? Where did this skill and confidence come from? Also, although he feels danger at being discovered, it’s not like he sold fake art and would go to jail, so where is the tension? Also, there no sense of how well he was doing, in terms of money, until really deep in the book, so you can’t really appreciate the scams. He also, out of nowhere, considers murder in order to preserve his cover—huh? The social commentary that wraps the book is potentially amusing, although the deep introspection in the last chapter does not feel true to this character. Potential to explore race issues and the ability to shed one (Filipino) for another (Chinese) in white privileged society. Sexuality barely a blip here, although he’s supposedly gay—zero sex present (or even really thought about), although he supposedly feels something for Kendo (for some reason never developed).

[Dana Clinton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: Fixer Chao (Han Ong) One more book offered to me by my daughter from off my extensive wish list on Bookcrossing. I suspect this one will sit with me for quite awhile. Some of it I found very offputting, and yet, it is so well constructed and so eye-opening that I couldn't help but get drawn in. I believe there are sections which just seem tawdry, never a feeling I enjoy reading about. I have no experience to compare to that of a down-and-out immigrant in New York City, so there was much for me to learn. The main character, a Filipino former hustler, is approached in the seedy bar Savoy and drawn into a scheme of revenge by Shem, a disgruntled and angry man seeking to give a comeuppance to certain figures in high society who have done him wrong. The scam is to create a persona for William Paulhina in which, as Master Chao, an expert in Feng Shui,he will become the darling of high society.. but instead of creating harmony in the lives of the people who consult him, deliberately sets out to do them harm. Interestingly, even though it is easy to detest both sides of this stand-off of class society, the truth is that there is beauty and ugliness in individuals which transcends stereotypes. I did indeed cringe at the behavior and attitudes of the super entitled wealthy, but I also cringed at the seediness of some of the disadvantaged. Throughout, though, the complex character of the man who becomes Master Chao lays bare New York Society in a multitude of ways; I couldn't but help wanting him to come out of it all on top. He does and he doesn't. And that is pretty astonishing. A tough read.

[Syafa Abdul Rahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings I think. Reading this book sometimes felt like a chore, but that could be because of the timing and because we had to read it during a busy time in my semester. It's less than 400 pages but definitely felt like a longer book. I liked the passages about the transitory state of immigration and the experience of being a migrant. The writing, though at times a bit lengthy, plays with words (in multiple languages) in a really clever and darkly humourous way that I also appreciate.

[Michalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 stars

[Anna Ta · Rating 5 out of 5]

kind of stressful but thoroughly enjoyable

[Margo L · Rating 2 out of 5]

jumped ship!

[Jamie Yu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. lots of interesting themes

[mims · Rating 3 out of 5]

a high 3 stars to a funny, hopeless, malevolent, and smart novel that rambles just a bit too much but i appreciate how big of a hater han ong is.

[Karen Carlson]

I LOVE his Pushcart 2025 story "Ginger for Everything" but this doesn't really sound like my type of book. Still, it might be worth a try.

[Michael Caylo-Baradi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago, around the time it came out. I want to read it again, with that same copy I bought in the Bay Area, buried somewhere in piles of boxes that contain memories, skeletons, and other intriguing dusts. I think this book deserves four stars. The prose is smooth, perhaps as smooth as its protagonist's abilities to persuade those who are hungry for the attention of persuaders. But how interesting, indeed, that William Paulinha ends up in Los Angeles, a paradise for talented hustlers plotting their next scams.

In an interview, Ong had mentioned Anita Brookner, that he likes her work. This sort of shows in Fixer Chao; the prose, I mean. But Ong's second novel - The Disinherited - does not quite inherit his luminous prose in this first novel. I'm waiting for his next work.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended. A down and out Filipino Immigrant becomes a faux expert at the trendy practice of Feng-Shui, posing as a Chinese master of this obscure art form. Previously having been a gay male prostitute, his station in life is certainly advanced after he signs on for this position, with the guidance of a strange Orthodox Jewish man who wishes to get revenge on his ex-wife. Before Long "Master Chao" is in high demand among the privileged households of New York City, his touch seeming to bestow fortune to all who receive his services. Due to his identity being false (as the professional whom he proclaims himself as to the world) he struggles with negotiating situations that strike awe into the person that he really is beneath the illusion.

[Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bitter writer spurned by the New York social elite teams up with a Filipeno hustler to exact his revenge through a phony feng shui scheme. This novel is aggressively unfunny and I didn't buy a second of it -- neither the scheme itself nor the flatly-drawn "victims" reactions to it were remotely believeable. The author potentially has something interesting to say about the racism inherent in the eagerness of Western society to fetishize Asian culture, but unfortunately this novel is not an effective vehicle for it.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting into the book is a bit tricky, but once you get used to the voice and punctuation choice, it's a fairly good read. I enjoy the writing itself and the plot, while kind of loose, starts to pull you along at a certain point. I feel like the end sort of fizzled into nothing--not that I wanted something overly dramatic but I feel as if the introduction and leavetaking of certain characters wasn't handled particularly well. And the ending itself was confused and vague.

But I'd read it again probably if I had nothing better to do.

[Klenk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just picked this up based on another goodread's friend's review. While the story does a lot of interesting internal things with the main character, the main thrust is of the book is to reflect mainstream American culture. I probably would have liked the book more if it had been more about the character and less about America.

Still some awesome scenes.

[Kim Teeple · Rating 4 out of 5]

sort of a modern, hmmmm..or ancient take on revenge--muck up their Feng Shui!

[Valery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a brilliant novel. I loved Ong's style and think the MacArthur award was well deserved.

[Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate reading a book that so accurately embodies the biting sarcasm and political wit of an author.

[Meer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should have been a part of my permanent collection - books I love and never want to part with. Sadly, and unfortunately I donated to my local library. I want it back. Instant classic.

[Dorotea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, witty.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for bookclub, July-August 2001

[YZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stole this

[Drea]

Bought the book after hearing Han Ong read at Book Soup. Started reading years ago, I guess I should finish it.

[Kaia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit jarring to read a pre-9/11 book set in New York. Lovely to read a whole novel for homework these days!

[Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good send-up of Asian stereotypes and the ridiculous culture of rich Manhattan folk.