A Long Stay in a Distant Land (by Chieh Chieng)

A LONG STAY IN A DISTANT LAND by Chieh Chieng (unabridged) is presented by Blackstone Audio and comes with what is perhaps the best audiobook app available (see FEATURES, below).

“[A] dazzling debut: poignant, prickly, and deliciously absurd.” (Booklist)

In this funny, inventive novel, the Lums are a Chinese-American family living in Orange County, California, that has been cursed by one untimely death after another. Now young Louis must watch over his father while also searching for a long-lost uncle.

Self-contained, this audiobook app is perfect for your commute, on a trip, or while relaxing. Based on a library-quality recording, this app was built especially for your iPhone and iPod Touch. No unreadable text, no endless scrolling on a tiny screen. The audio is of higher-than-normal quality, making for a great listening experience that will not tire your ears or grate on your nerves.

NOTICE: This app includes the exact same 5-star recording offered elsewhere at much higher prices. It was professionally recorded by Blackstone Audio’s narrator, James Yaegashi. You are not buying yet another amateur or volunteer narration. No clicks, background noises, throat clearing, mispronunciations, tinny voices or monotones will be found here.

“Charmingly eccentric and refreshingly unstereotypical.” (Publishers Weekly)

•EXPERIENCE. About 6.5 hours of narration. Created as a Folium enhancedAudio™ edition, this book includes extra functions and features not found on lesser players.

•PLAYER CONTROLS. Includes listen (play), pause, multi-speed fast forward/reverse, jump ahead/back, chapter skip, volume control, one-touch chapter- and bookmark browser. There is also a “scrub” bar that finds any point inside the chapter with just a tap.

•SLEEP TIMER. Have you ever fallen asleep watching TV or listening to a book? If so, youll love this feature. Once set, the book will stop, place a bookmark, and allow you to jump back to where you probably began dozing.

•CLEAR & ELEGANT DESIGN. Simple, clean, intuitive, and smarter than average.

•CHAPTER TIMINGS. Always know how much time it will take to finish a chapter. Plus, the progress bar at the top of the screen shows how far into the book you’ve come.

•OFFLINE LISTENING. You are airplane-ready! Once downloaded, listen uninterrupted without threat from a lost network connection. Downloads are usually just 5-10 minutes, but depend upon your network speed.

•AUTO-BOOKMARKING. The player remembers where you stopped listening and returns to that exact spot when you open the book again.

•TELL-A-FRIEND. An easy way to recommend the book to your friends or Twitter feed.

•FEEDBACK. Share your ideas for books, functions, and features. We are very responsive to our listeners and appreciate all feedback and ideas.


RATING: 9+ Suitable for adults who enjoy fiction centered around foreign cultures in America.

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In this funny and inventive novel, the Lums are a death-stalked Chinese-American family living in Orange County, California. Ever since Grandpa Melvin was inspired to join the U.S. Army after watching a Popeye movie and—as family lore has it—unleashed a “relentless rain of steel death” upon the Nazis, Lum after Lum has been doomed to an untimely demise, be it by tainted cheeseburger or speeding ice-cream truck. Now young Louis must move back home with his father, Sonny, to prevent him from enacting the revenge he promises. But soon Louis finds himself searching for his long-lost uncle Bo Lum in Hong Kong. As Louis’s search progresses, the tragicomic story of three generations of Lums in America is revealed through the eyes of Louis, Sonny, and Grandma Esther.