Lucky Ticket

'A brave and haunting debut collection...In erudite stories of the displaced and dislocated, Bui's characters are glistering survivors [and] a testament to the deft way she crafts dialogue...Bui's narratives are profound and unforgettable'. * Australian Book Review * 'The wonder of this book is that someone so young could inhabit so many points of view and bring them all to life.' * Herald Sun * 'A strange and spellbinding collection of short stories with question-mark conclusions, presenting glimpses into the ordinary and extraordinary lives of migrants...Lucky Ticket is a tender, sophisticated collections of worlds, from the bucolic to the metropolitan, from life-shaking events to everyday minutiae.' * Saturday Paper * 'There is an astonishing range and fearlessness evident in this collection...alongside writing of great beauty and lyricism.' * Age * 'The sophistication with which Bui explores the intersections of race, gender and politics belies her youth. In terms of its global reach and the insights into the heads and hearts of its protagonists, the collection recalls the short fiction of Melanie Cheng's Australia Day and Nam Le's The Boat...This is a writer who is both steady and nimble-footed in her ambitions.' * Australian * 'Joey Bui's debut collection is polished, wide-ranging, and absolutely has the capacity to transport the reader...the prose is juicy, polyphonic and refreshing...Bui is an incredibly talented young writer, and we should all be taking note of her name.' * Readings * 'Joey Bui writes with a rare emotional acuity. Although her characters inhabit very different lives, her stories are linked by a searching quality, and by the assured clarity of her prose. Lucky Ticket is meticulously observed and distinctly contemporary.' * Jennifer Down * 'A feast of stories-deliciously varied, speaking true, speaking fierce, from every margin, about what it means to be a part of life.' * Tishani Doshi, author of Small Days and Nights * 'Fanfare will herald this debut by a thrilling new writer-and rightly so. These stories are finely crafted, Bui's light touch revealing both confidence and a keen sense for the right measure of mystery. Her characters inhabit margins and she takes readers deep into lives that are exquisitely unique, yet startlingly universal. Perhaps the most exciting story here is that of Joey Bui's bright career ahead. What a start! So now let there be fireworks, and let her render them for us in her inimitable way.' * Miguel Syjuco, winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize for Ilustrado * 'Bui's sentences range over people and land battered by war and movement. They tell you how and why people long and love like wild things. They tell you hustlers bide their time, dreamers too. Importantly, they tell you Bui's got game.' * Deepak Unnikrishnan, author of Temporary People, winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing * 'Wry yet affecting...the scatological nature of the stories and the ways in which they delve into the indignity of poverty call to mind Jenny Zhang, while the astute racial, gender and class commentary would appeal to readers of Julie Koh, Melanie Cheng and Rosanna Gonsalves.' * Books+Publishing (starred review) * Joey Bui is a masterful storyteller. The stories in Lucky Ticket are so diverse in setting and voice, it's hard to believe they were all written by the same person. Each tale is delightfully rich with detail and yet reverberates with a broader truth. When the book finished, I was sad to leave its pages but heartened to know that such a collection exists in the world. These unforgettable characters and stories will keep me company for a gloriously long time. * Melanie Cheng * 'Filled with distinctive characters and full of surprises, these stories are enlightening and unforgettable.' * Alice Pung * 'An exciting, profound and often funny dive into the minor cataclysms of everyday life. Joey Bui is a marvel.' * Bram Presser * 'After reading this devastatingly great collection - imbued with equal parts pain and humour, suffering and the sublime - I want to recommend it to not just my Vietnamese or Asian-Australian friends, but anyone who reads.' * Benjamin Law *