I Deliver Parcels in Beijing: One Man's Quest to Speak the Truth About the Global Gig Economy (Unabridged)
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2.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
"Hu Anyan’s I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, translated by Jack Hargreaves, offers an unvarnished dispatch from the front lines of the gig economy, written by a guy who’s held nearly every low-wage, low-reward job on the market (delivery driver, security guard, convenience store clerk, bicycle salesman). The Cinderella bit of it is that now he can add a new title: internationally best-selling author."—Leah Greenblatt, The New York Times Book Review
A runaway bestseller in China, sold in 17+ countries, this delightfully honest and humorous account gives a face and voice to the future of work—as if Nomadland met Nickel and Dimed.
In 2023, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing became the literary sensation of the year in China. Hu Anyan’s story, about short-term jobs in various anonymous megacities, hit a nerve with a generation of young people who feel at odds with an ever-growing pressure to perform and succeed.
Hu started posting essays about his experiences online during COVID lockdowns. His recollection of night shifts in a huge logistics center in the south of China went viral: his nights were so hot that he could drink three liters of water without taking a toilet break; his days were spent searching for affordable rooms with proper air-conditioning; and his few moments of leisure were consumed by calculations of the amount of alcohol needed to sleep but not feel drowsy a few hours later.
Hu Anyan tells us about brutal work, where there is no real future in sight. But Hu is armed with deadpan humor and a strong idea of self. He moves on when he feels stuck—from logistics in the south, to parcel delivery in Beijing, to other impossible jobs. Along the way, he turns to reading and writing for strength and companionship.
I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is an honest and startling first-person portrait of Hu Anyan's struggle against the dehumanizing nature of our contemporary global work system—and his discovery of the power of sharing a story.
Customer Reviews
Where’s the Covid-19 section?
This book had a lot of promise. It was a pretty raw discussion on the issues facing gig economy workers and an interesting look into the daily lives of ordinary Chinese people. But come on, the book ends right before Covid 19 lockdowns and then becomes a useless laundry list of all the jobs he worked before becoming a gig driver. Really, really disappointing propaganda piece in the end, I’m disappointed that I even bothered to read it. Shame on the Economist and other reviewers that flatly don’t mention this books selective construction.