Diary of a Naked Official

by Ouyang Yu

Anonymous, the keeper of the diary, deputy director of a publishing company in a nameless city in China, is a happily married man with a daughter until he succumbs fully to his sexual desires, forever searching for new erotic experiences and secret liaisons. Anonymous is able to hoard a fortune, by embezzlement or corruption, with which he buys permanent resident status for his wife and daughter in the West. He stays behind in China, a situation commonly referred to as a naked official in contemporary Chinese terminology, one who has nothing to fear when exposed because his family is safely installed overseas with all his money.

Genres: Fiction, China

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Ouyang Yu is a poet based in Melbourne and since his first arrival in April 1991 in Australia, he has published quite a few poems. His eighth novel, All the Rivers Run South, is forthcoming with Puncher & Wattmann in 2023.

Reviews

[Laidun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ouyang Yu is a depraved pervert. Look at his face, go Google his face. He has the same fishy look as Wang Xiaobo, another pervert.

I laughed a lot while reading this. It's very honest.

[Michael Meeuwis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, seing Michael Houllebecq cited approvingly in a novel--or indeed cited at all--isn't a good sign of anything. This story unravels as a series of listlessly sexual encounters, differing from each other largely in whether or not the protagonist is wearing a condom. You can tell where the novel feels it's said something really clever about contemporary sexual experience because it will repeat it three or four times. I suppose all of what I'm describing is the point of the novel--that contemporary life is marked by listlessly, repetitious sex acts--and I suppose on its own terms this succeeds in doing what it describes. But, eh.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An "interesting" read. I enjoyed the Chinese perspective on Australia and the poetry was thought provoking

[Wendy Siryj · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that was a week I will never get back. Up there with The Diceman and some of Bret Easton Ellis's books are the most narcissistic writing I have ever read. The protaginist was a misogynistic pig of a man who spent the whole book talking about his beloved penis and all his sexual escapades. I kept reading in the hope that all his pretention was going to amount to something....but no. Don't even bother. 👎👎

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's a love it or hate it novel