Beijing Sprawl

Xu Zechen, Eric Abrahamsen, Jeremy Tiang

Description

Muyu, a seventeen-year-old from a small village, came to Beijing for his piece of the dream: money, love, a good life. But in the city, daily life for him and his friends—purveyors of fake IDs and counterfeit papers—is a precarious balance of struggle and guile. Surveying the neighborhood from the rooftop of the apartment they all share, the young men play cards, drink beer, and discuss their aspirations, hoping for the best but expecting little more than the comfort of each other’s company. In these connected stories translated from Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen and Jeremy Tiang, Xu’s characters observe as others like them—workers, students, drifters, and the just plain unlucky—get by the best ways they know how: by jogging excessively, herding pigeons, building cars from scraps, and holding their friends close through the miasma of so-called progress.

Sujets

• World Literature
• Literary
• Literature
• Friendship
• General officer
• 21st Century
• City Life
• General
• China
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Two Lines Press
• Date de parution: 13 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781949641332
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

BEIJING SPRAWL

XU ZECHEN

TRANSLATED FROM CHINESE BY JEREMY TIANG & ERIC ABRAHAMSEN

Copyright © 2023 by Xu Zechen Translation © 2023 by Jeremy Tiang and Eric Abrahamsen

“Wheels Turn” first appeared under the title “Wheels are Round” inShi Cheng: Short Stories from Urban China(Comma Press, 2013) “The Dog’s Been Barking All Day” first appeared inFreeman’s “Climbing Stork Tower” onpages 167–168translated by Xu Yuanchong

ISBN 978-1-949641-32-5 Ebook ISBN 978-1-949641-33-2

Two Lines Press 582 Market Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94104 www.twolinespress.com

Typeset by Stephanie Nisbet Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Xu, Zechen, 1978- author. | Abrahamsen, Eric, translator. Tiang, Jeremy, translator. Title: Beijing Sprawl by Xu Zechen ; translated by Eric Abrahamsen & Jeremy Tiang. Other titles: Kan, zhe jiu shi Beijing. English Description: San Francisco, CA : Two Lines Press, [2023] | Summary: “An exploration of the true meaning of ‘home,’ this short story collection comprises nine vignettes about the lives of four friends who share a small apartment on the outskirts of Beijing”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2022054894 (print) | LCCN 2022054895 (ebook) ISBN 9781949641325 (paperback) | ISBN 9781949641332 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Xu, Zechen, 1978---Translations into English. LCGFT: Urban fiction. | Short stories. Classification: LCC PL2969.Z43 K3613 2023 (print) | LCC PL2969.Z43 (ebook) DDC 895.13/6--dc23/eng/20230117 LC record available athttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022054894 LC ebook record available athttps://lccn.loc.gov/2022054895

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This publication is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Six-Eared Macaque

Coming of Age

Unseen Cities

Wheels Turn

On the Rooftop

CONTENTS

If a Snowstorm Seals the Door

Brother

Prince of Morocco

The Dog’s Been Barking All Day