Running Through Beijing - Softcover

Zechen Xu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 193188336X ISBN 13: 9781931883368

Publisher: Two Lines Press, 2014

Synopsis

Americans mostly know Chinese literature as political literature—think Mo Yan, the Cultural Revolution, dissidents, and censorship—but there’s a whole other world of punk lit chronicling the harsh realities faced by the millions living in China’s mega-cities. Meet Dunhuang: just out of prison for selling fake IDs, he has barely enough money for a meal. He also has no place to stay, no friends to call on, and no prospects for earning more yuan. When he happens to meet a pretty woman selling pirated DVDs on the road, he falls into both an unexpected romance and a new business venture. But when her on-and-off boyfriend steps back into the picture, Dunhuang is forced to make some tough decisions. In Running through Beijing, leading young Chinese author Xu Zechen draws on his actual experiences and real-life friends to guide us through an underworld of constant thievery, hard-core porn, cops (both real and impostors), prison, bribery, crazy landladies, rampant drinking, and the smothering, bone-dry dust storms that blanket one of the world’s largest cities in thick layers of grime. Like a literary Run Lola Run, it follows a hustling hero rushing at breakneck speed to stay just one step ahead of a world constantly fighting to drag him down. Full of action, surprises, heartfelt sentiment, and well-drawn, authentic citizens from the People’s Republic, Running through Beijing is a masterful performance from a writer who knows underground China inside and out.

About this title

About the Authors

Xu Zechen is the author of the novels Midnight’s Door, Night Train, Heaven on Earth, and Running Through Beijing (Two Lines Press, 2014). He was selected by People’s Literature as one of the “Future 20” best Chinese writers under forty-one. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, he lives in Beijing.

Eric Abrahamsen is the recipient of translation grants from PEN and the NEA and has written for the New York Times, among others. In 2012 Penguin published his translation of The Civil Servant’s Notebook by Wang Xiaofang. He lives in Beijing, where he hosts the acclaimed website on Chinese literature, Paper Republic.

Edition details

• Publisher: Two Lines Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 193188336X
• ISBN 13: 9781931883368
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176