Book description
Brilliant and original, 'A Thousand Years of Good Prayers' introduces a
remarkable first collection of stories about China from an author set to
become a major literary talent.
In this extraordinary first collection, Yiyun Li brings us a modern
China facing up to a complex history of repression and guilt. In
'Immortality', winner of the Paris Review prize, a young man bears a
striking resemblance to the dictator, and so finds a strange kind of
calling. In 'Extra', first published in the New Yorker, a Chinese woman,
alone in middle age, befriends a young boy who has become an outcast in
a remote country school. In their friendship, we see how love can begin
to overcome the strictures that dominate their lives.
In turn horrifying and breathtakingly lyrical, Yiyun Li, a new and
talented young Chinese writer, confronts the silence that dominated the
history of her country, and illuminates how mythology, politics, history
and culture intersect with personality. She leaves us with an enduring
vision of a country undergoing tremendous change. 'Li's writing is
beautifully spare and controlled.' The Times
'Yiyun's confidence as a storyteller lends her fiction a traditional
air, but there's nothing old fashioned about her perspective…When I've
sampled other recent Chinese writing, I've had a sense of western
publishers being seduced by the novelty of it all, snapping up authors
with dramatic histories and slim talents. Yiyun is the real deal…Yiyun
has the talent, the vision and the respect for life's insoluble
mysteries to be a truly fine writer. Michel Faber, Guardian
'Great narrative skill…demonstrates that the best way to learn about
people in a foreign culture is through good fiction.' Irish Times
'Li has a remarkable talent for telling the story of the whole of China
through apparently insignificant lives.' New Statesman
'These mesmerising stories present a glimpse of modern China more
nuanced than any reporter could ever hop to gleam.' Daily Mail
'Li's moving, engrossing stories are particular in their place…but
universal in their themes and their relevance.' The Observer
'If you have ever wondered what life is like in modern China, but can't
afford the airfare and lessons in Mandarin, you should read this book.
In fact if you haven't given China a second thought, this is a
collection of stories worth reading.' Impac News Yiyun Li grew up in
Beijing, China, and came to the Unites States in 1996. She is the
recipient of several prizes for her writing and an M. F.A. from The
University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, Li's stories have been published
in The New Yorker, The Paris Review and elsewhere. She lives in Iowa
City with her husband and their two sons.
