Scratching the Head of Chairman Mao
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- USD 11.99
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- USD 11.99
Descripción editorial
“A remarkable and very moving feat of storytelling.” —Andrew Holgate
China is the center of the world, and the center of China is Beijing, and at the center of Beijing is a billionaire financier named Qin. At the opening of this novel-in-stories, billionaire Qin is lying in state at his funeral, victim of a sudden and premature death. Moving back and forth in time, we meet a wide range of Chinese, all linked to Qin by a degree or two of separation: a property developer, a street artist, a prostitute, a fashion model, a spy, a thief, an expat lawyer, a muckraking journalist. By the end of this biting, post-post-modern cultural observation, the manner of Qin’s death is revealed. Scratching the Head of Chairman Mao presents today’s China in its full and fabulous complexity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tel's beguiling collection (after The Beijing of Possibilities) follows several characters in China who are connected to a billionaire before his death. In "The Sadness and Beauty of the Billionaire," Qin, the billionaire, says, "The truth always lies in the gaps between the stories." Indeed, as readers page through the stories, they gain a sense of the bigger picture around Qin. In "Elvis Has Left Beijing" two Chinese women decide on different dating paths: one with Chinese men and one with foreigners. During their story, a person in a panda suit rides by on a bike. Later, that moment appears in "Year of the Panda," in which Tel reveals who is in the panda outfit and why. As characters feature in multiple stories, their connections to Qin emerge: his wife's chauffeur, a business associate, or a prostitute he visited. Readers will find themselves flipping back to previous stories to find links and fill in the gaps around Qin's life. Tel's masterful work is an enchanting enigma.
