The Book of Beijing (Paperback)

Shi, Bingbing

ISBN 10: 1910974196 / ISBN 13: 9781910974193

Published by Comma Press, Mytholmroyd, 2023

About this Item

Paperback. Two former college friends run into each other on the morning train and find themselves reflecting on the very different paths their lives have taken. A counterfeiter, forever living outside the law, starts to envy a friend who's managed to get out of the game and establish a normal life. A security officer in a futuristic version of Beijing West Railway Station chases down a passenger who the screens say is ' intentionally lost' . Beijing may be known to us, in the West, as the political powerhouse of the most populous country in the world, but to the characters in these stories it is a protean city, forever changing, evasive and difficult to read. It turns close friends into strangers, up-ends carefully thought-out life choices, and leaves next-door neighbours completely unaware of each other's true identity. The stories collected in this anthology show people in all contexts - from wannabe protestors to future users of facial expression reading tech - desperate to stake their name on the city, as well as surprised by it at every turn. Bringing together fiction from celebrated writers, The Book of Beijing is an anthology of short stories charting the social and and cultural change of Beijing over the last fifty years, creating a literary map of the city. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781910974193

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Book of Beijing (Paperback)
• Publisher: Comma Press, Mytholmroyd
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1910974196
• ISBN 13: 9781910974193
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Two former college friends run into each other on the morning train and find themselves reflecting on the very different paths their lives have taken... A counterfeiter, forever living outside the law, starts to envy a friend who’ s managed to get out of the game and establish a normal life... A security officer in a futuristic version of Beijing West Railway Station chases down a passenger who the screens say is ‘ intentionally lost’ ... Beijing may be known to us, in the West, as the political powerhouse of the most populous country in the world, but to the characters in these stories it is a protean city, forever changing, evasive and difficult to read... It turns close friends into strangers, up-ends carefully thought-out life choices, and leaves next-door neighbours completely unaware of each other’ s true identity. The stories collected in this anthology show people in all contexts – from wannabe protestors to future users of facial expression reading tech – desperate to stake their name on the city, as well as surprised by it at every turn.

About the Author

Bingbing Shi (editor) is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge. Her research is concerned about modern Chinese literature and literature-to-screen adaptation. She had been living in Beijing for more than seven years, gaining a BA and a MA in Chinese literature from Beijing Normal University. She does creative writing while doing academic research and published short stories in literary journals such as People’ s Literature and Youth Literature.