The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories: Flash Fiction from Contemporary China

US: Stone Bridge Press, 2008. Paperback. Very Good. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. "Modern Chinese fiction . . . looks to have made a great leap towards the b ookshelves of [Western] readers."--Guardian Hugely popular in China, flash fiction is poised to be the most exciting ne w development in contemporary Chinese literature in a decade. Integrating b oth vernacular and contemporary styles while embracing new technologies suc h as text messaging (SMS) and blogging, contemporary Chinese flash fiction represents the voice of a civilization at the brink of a startling and unpr ecedented transformation. This collection features 120 short-short stories (from 100 to 300 words each), written by some of China's most dynamic and versatile authors. Dong Rui's The Pearl Jacket offers a glimpse of the real and surreal in human evolution, Chen Qiyou's Butterfly Forev er brings an ancient Chinese literary motif into a startling modern context , while Liu Jianchao's Concerned Departments mocks the staggering comp lexity of life in the new urban China. Traditional, experimental, and avant -garde, The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories will reinvigorate the position o f young Chinese writers as a major presence in contemporary literature. The ir voices breathe new energy into modern Chinese literature, leaving the li terary and societal stagnation of the Cultural Revolution behind as a dista nt memory. Shouhua Qi is Professor of English at Western Connecticut State University. He is the author of Red Guard Fantasies and Other Stories and When the Purple Mountain Burns. He is.