By Cho Chongnae
 
Against a backdrop of rapidly morphing urban landscapes, readers meet migrant workers, Korean manufacturers out to save a few bucks, high-flying venture capitalists, street thugs, and shakedown artists. The picture of China that emerges is at turns unsettling, awe-inspiring, and heart-breaking. Cho deftly portrays a giant awakening to its own raw, volatile, and often uncontrollable power.
 
The Human Jungle was published as a trilogy of novels in Korean, each of which sold more than one million copies. Translators Bruce Fulton and Ju-Chan Fulton have combined these into a single English-language edition.