Beijing Sprawl
Beijing Sprawl by Zechen Xu, published by Two Lines Press in 2023, presents a collection of interconnected stories that explore themes of friendship, failure, and survival. This edition, written in English and spanning 220 pages, follows Muyu, a seventeen-year-old who arrives in Beijing with dreams of a better life. As he navigates the challenges of urban existence alongside his friends, who engage in activities like creating fake IDs, the narrative captures their precarious daily lives filled with struggle and camaraderie.
Readers will find a vivid portrayal of city life through the eyes of Xu’s characters, who include workers, students, and drifters. The stories delve into their aspirations and coping mechanisms, revealing how they adapt to the harsh realities of their environment. Through activities such as jogging, herding pigeons, and building cars from scraps, these individuals seek solace in their friendships while grappling with the complexities of modern life in China. Translated from Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen and Jeremy Tiang, this work offers a nuanced perspective on urban existence in the 21st century.
Official synopsis Publisher
Stories of friendship, failure, and survival from Xu Zechen, author of “some of the most exciting and energized writing coming out of China now.” (Paul French)
Muyu, a seventeen-year-old from a small village, came to Beijing for his piece of the dream: money, love, a good life. But in the city, daily life for him and his friends–purveyors of fake IDs and counterfeit papers–is a precarious balance of struggle and guile. Surveying the neighborhood from the rooftop of the apartment they all share, the young men play cards, drink beer, and discuss their aspirations, hoping for the best but expecting little more than the comfort of each other’s company. In these connected stories translated from Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen and Jeremy Tiang, Xu’s characters observe as others like them–workers, students, drifters, and the just plain unlucky–get by the best ways they know how: by jogging excessively, herding pigeons, building cars from scraps, and holding their friends close through the miasma of so-called progress.
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