Description
Book SynopsisWhat good is a town without people? Wu Township is hollowing out. Our most capable sons and daughters have long since uprooted from their birthplace on the central plains to fuel China's economic miracle. The ancient trees now sit in the shade of a modern aqueduct, funnelling even our precious water to the metropolises beyond. From the marketplace where gossip is traded to the long-abandoned execution grounds, ordinary life carries on. For we who remain, feuds between neighbours compound the burdens shared by increasingly ageing shoulders. But If you know where to look, you'll find the town still clings to its customs and dreams. Let me show you around. If we're lucky, we'll run into the benevolent doctor or beauty store owner, and if we're not, the corrupt local official, perhaps even the souls of executed ancestors. Why do you want to visit? To see it before it's all gone... of course.
Trade ReviewPraise for the author;"Speaks to universal challenges, problems facing not just Chinese villages but also alienated communities around the world." - Ian Johnson, New York Times;"It is in these stories that the universality of people's hopes, fears and frustrations really shines through." - Jo Lateu, New Internationalist; "Stunningly insightful... What makes Liang's study so compelling is the way in which it offers a glimpse of a world in which personal problems ... exist on the same level as broader social and political problems." Mark Rappolt, ArtReview
Table of Contents1. A Shining Cloud Moving Over the Skies of Wu Town 2. Drifting 3. The Holy Man, Dequan 4. Xu Jialiang Builds a House 5. Swimming in the Second River 6. The Beauty, Caihong 7. Meatheads 8. That Bright, Snowy Afternoon 9. The Exercise Ground 10. The Good Man, Lan Wei About the Author About the Translator About Sinoist Books
