Fixer Chao - A Novel

By: Han Ong

Published by Random House, 2026-07-14

A cult classic, Fixer Chao—which was named a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year—by New Yorker contributor Han Ong, delivers a sharp and insightful narrative about racial and social hierarchy, personal identity, and alienation

William Paulinha, a resourceful, gay Filipino sex worker, is attempting to turn over a new leaf when he crosses paths with Shem C.—a disgraced author cast out by both his spouse and New York’s elite literary circles. Seeking retribution, Shem enlists William in his scheme to strike back at the world that dismissed him, forming an unlikely alliance.

What begins as a friendship soon morphs into an elaborate con. With Shem as his mentor, William reinvents himself as Master Chao, a highly sought-after Feng Shui consultant. As their scheme grows in scale and sophistication, William is drawn deeper into the lives—and secrets—of the city’s wealthy and powerful. Blending sharp satire with poignant reflections on identity, ambition, and deception, the novel charts one man’s journey through transformation, illusion, and the unexpected costs of the American Dream.

“An astringent depiction of the high life and the low in Manhattan. . . .[Fixer Chao] is a novel that, for its images and metaphors, draws on an impressive range of sources. . .and it takes a deep, knowing look inside the immigrant dream.”
—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World

“Ong [has a] gift for quick, acerbic caricatures and piercing observations about contemporary culture.”
—The New York Times

“Fixer Chao is an extremely satisfying and even moving novel….An unrelenting aria of high bitchiness and scathing satire.”
—Salon