Han Ong’s 2001 novel "Fixer Chao" has been reissued this month by Outsider Editions, offering a fresh look at a darkly comic and sharp-edged satire set in early 2000s New York City. The novel follows William Paulinha, a 30-year-old immigrant from the Philippines navigating the precarious margins of urban life through a series of small-time hustles and shifting identities.
William is a former hustler who has tried to abandon his past, moving from illicit encounters to mundane office jobs such as data clerking and transcribing Holocaust memoirs. Dissatisfied and adrift, his life takes a turn when he encounters Shem C., a charismatic but dubious figure who recruits William into an elaborate scheme. Shem convinces William to adopt the persona of "William Chao," a feng shui master, to exploit wealthy Manhattan clients eager to pay high fees for the promise of spiritual and material harmony.
Armed with fashion magazines, a new haircut, and a self-help book on feng shui, William quickly gains traction among the Upper West Side elite. His clientele includes affluent widows and Wall Street figures who, despite their affluence, are portrayed as lonely and insecure individuals desperate for validation. Though often oblivious to their own prejudices and flaws, these clients willingly engage with William’s contrived expertise, paying for rearranged furniture and symbolic adjustments to protect their chi.
Ong’s narrative blends social satire with noirish elements, highlighting William’s dual existence between his fabricated high-society persona and his real life in a modest Manhattan neighborhood. Alongside an older Filipina neighbor who functions as a surrogate family member, William’s story reveals themes of displacement, identity, and the immigrant experience. His attraction to Suzy Yamada’s son, Kenko, introduces a subplot of personal longing amid the larger con.
Throughout the novel, Ong eschews traditional morality plays. William is not driven by ambition or obsession but by a sense of having little left to lose. The story captures a pre-9/11 New York, a city still brimming with possibility despite stark social divisions. The scheme's eventual unraveling brings moments of tension and reflection, pushing William toward a reckoning with his own truth.
"Fixer Chao" resonates as a multi-layered exploration of urban survival, the fluidity of identity, and the thin line between authenticity and artifice. Ong’s prose shifts adeptly between humor and melancholy, rendering a vivid portrait of a protagonist caught between worlds—a role that continues to feel relevant in today’s evolving cultural landscape.