A Chinese man Feng Danlin has moved to New York and makes a living by writing news and editorial articles for an independent Chinese language website. He rails against Chinese corruption and the actions of the Chinese governmet. He is outraged when his ex-wife issues a press release saying she has a book contract for millions of dollars, with a movie contract already in the offing, and an endorsement by President George Bush. The work is an autobiographical novel which promises to glorify herself and shame him. He gets into an online battle with his ex-wife about the fabrication of details and her success and also meets with her.  But in doing so, he further angers the Chinese government and causes trouble for himself and those close to him.

This novel gives some understanding of the world some section of Chinese expatriates and the Chinese literary scene, and that makes it interesting. The particular character of the narrator is not altogether admirable: he has many faults, and while he is self-deprecating, he is also not particularly aware of his problems. We see much about his life, his old marriage, his new girlfriend, an NYU professor, and the life of journalists trying to report on China. It’s a quirky story written with lots of dialogue and a constant flow of action which makes it very readable. The unabridged audiobook energetically read by Edoardo Ballerini has strong production values, making the narrator frenetic and a bit anxious.

© 2016 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches philosophy to undergraduates in the NYC area.