{"product_id":"manual-for-how-to-live-ernie-wang-9781968209100","title":"Manual for How to Live Magnificently: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis debut collection turns the ordinary into sweeping tragicomedy, probing the small, daily confrontations that shape a life well lived.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a debut collection at once deeply felt and delightfully playful, Ernie Wang presents ordinary people struggling with challenges that confront many today: how to find steady, meaningful work; how to manage when our healthcare system fails us; how to navigate thorny relationships with lovers, with friends, with children; how to keep one's dreams alive, and how to let them go. The thirteen stories in \u003ci\u003eManual for How to Live Magnificently\u003c\/i\u003e are intriguingly linked, with narrators becoming players and players becoming narrators. Several stories feature cameos by the irrepressible seventy-something Mabel Rogerson, who serves by turns as catalyst, comic relief, and means to catharsis. The book toggles among dramatically different locales--Dayton, Ohio; Las Vegas; Disneyland; Kamisoshigaya, Japan--drawing them thematically into a shared orbit. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThough each of Wang's offerings has heft and poignancy, the stories also serve up superb comic set pieces. A fake fortuneteller forgoes his crystal ball in favor of a snow globe; a priest moonlights as a professional wrestler named the Grim Preacher; a troubled lawyer who reluctantly cat-sits for a friend winds up finding solace with Killer and Hoedaddy. Revelations are reached at the male strip club Dayton Dix, or during a ritual spanking at Hofbräuhaus just off the Las Vegas Strip, or on Captain Hook's flying galleon during a theme park ride. And almost everyone eventually ends up at Applebee's. When storylines converge in a terrifying tragedy, Wang takes the opportunity to explore the complexity of family, to deepen our understanding of sacrifice and the many ways people demonstrate love for one another.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ernie Wang\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1968209107\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781968209100\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Acre Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs","brand":"Ernie Wang","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49001249472767,"sku":"9781968209100","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/manual-for-how-to-live-ernie-wang-9781968209100","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}