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Originally published in 1936, this Vietnamese satirical novel follows the adventures of a poor ball-boy at a Hanoi tennis club, who, through an ongoing series of shenanigans and misunderstandings, rises to dizzying success in society. It's a familiar-enough trope -- the wily commoner who turns the fads and prejudices of the bourgeois to his own advantage. In this instance, our hero deftly uses the country's rush to urbanize, "modernize" and "Europeanize" to enhance his wealth, status, fame, and
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