Hello, Kitty and Other Stories

by Anne Stevenson-Yang

CHINA' S SEAMY UNDERSIDEKitty and her teenage friends, squatting in an empty apartment, are looking for gas to cook instant noodles. Bai Song and his wife, who live in the unit across the hallway, have a well-equipped kitchen with all the mod cons. Plus they' re old and retired, meaning they' re ripe for a bit of rough fun, Clockwork Orange-style.China at the turn of the century. Everything is upside down. Respect for your elders? You' ve got be joking. Communism? Yeah right. Cut-throat capitalism is the only way to get ahead. “ To get rich is glorious” .In ten wonderfully surreal stories, Anne Stevenson-Yang conjures up the atmosphere of a society in freefall. China as you' ve never imagined a wife who fakes her divorce so she can buy an apartment; neglected teens who tie up an elderly couple so they can use their kitchen; a country girl who poisons a disabled man for a residence permit.Living in China for nearly twenty-five years, Stevenson-Yang became fascinated in the “ muffled violence beneath the placid surface” .

Genres: China

192 pages, Paperback

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Nikilet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I somehow got an early copy and therefore, am bestowed with the honor of leaving its first rating!
As the (as of now) only review, I am proud to decide that this is a five stars book.

I liked it

[Dickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this collection of intersecting short stories. ASY paints a deft caricature of contemporary China family dynamics. I hope there is more to come.

[Kip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far more telling than any sociological or economic text. Anne Stevenson Yang has a gift for the uncanny and these glimpses of a double world linger.