Book description
Life as a film extra in Beijing might seem hard, but Fenfang won't be
defeated. She has travelled 1800 miles to seek her fortune in the
city, and has no desire to return to the never-ending sweet potato
fields back home. Determined to live a modern life, Fenfang works as a
cleaner in the Young Pioneer's movie theatre, falls in love with
unsuitable men and keeps her kitchen cupboard stocked with UFO instant
noodles. As Fenfang might say, Heavenly Bastard in the Sky, isn't it
about time I got my lucky break?
Longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize.
Xiaolu Guo was born in a fishing village in south China. She studied
film at the Beijing Film Academy and published six books in China before
she moved to London in 2002. The English translation of
Village of Stone
was shortlisted for the
Independent
Foreign Fiction Prize and nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin
Literary Award. Her first novel written in English,
A Concise
Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
was shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, and her
most recent novel,
Lovers in the Age of Indifference
, was published to critical accalim. Xiaolu's film career continues to
flourish; her latest feature,
She, A Chinese
, is released in 2010 and has won the coveted Golden Leopard at the
Locarno film festival; her new documentary
Once Upon a Time Proletarian
is currently screening at international film festivals.