나는 북경의 택배기사입니다

by Hu Anyan, 후안옌, 문현선 (Translator)

물류센터 야간 상하차, 택배기사, 패스트푸드 배달, 주유소 직원, 쇼핑몰 경비원, 온라인 쇼핑몰 창업 등 온갖 노동 속에서 발견한 일의 의미와 자유에 대한 속 깊은 에세이. 우연히 온라인에 올린 글이 입소문만으로 100만 회 이상 조회되며 출간으로 이어져 더우반 9주 연속 베스트셀러, 올해의 책 및 올해의 저자로 선정되고 종합 200만 부 이상 판매되며 돌풍을 일으켰다.

고등학교를 졸업하자자 말 그대로 ‘사회에 내던져진’ 20세의 후안옌. 부모님은 그저 부지런히 일하고 남에게 폐 끼치지 않으며 검소하게 살면 된다고 가르쳤지만, 그 앞에 펼쳐진 세상은 그렇지 않다. 후안옌은 사회생활의 요령도, 눈치껏 줄 서는 법도, 이렇다 할 학벌이나 재력도 없지만 특유의 성실함을 무기 삼아 자기 앞의 생을 살아간다. 그는 특유의 섬세한 감수성으로 자신을 둘러싼 자본주의와 시장경제의 세상을 관찰하고, 성실하게 기록한다.

『나는 북경의 택배기사입니다』는 후안옌이라는 젊은이가 20년간 19가지 직업을 경험하며 쓴 직업 경험담이자 나에게 맞는 삶을 찾아 나선 용감한 도피의 기록이다. 또한 이 시대 젊은이들이 겪을 수밖에 없는 불안함과 소외감, 어디를 향해야 할지 모르는 원망과 방황에 대한 진솔한 자기 고백이기도 하다.

후안옌은 종종 인간성을 말살하곤 하는 1분에 100원짜리 ‘택배 기계’로 일하면서도 독서를 통해 성장하고, 글쓰기를 통해 자기해방을 경험한다. 일과 글은 그의 삶을 지탱하는 주요한 두 축이었다. 김기태 작가가 지적한 것처럼 그는 “먹고살기 위해 두 발로 길바닥을 뛰면서도, 이따금 고개를 들어 높은 꿈을 응시한다. 그 꿈은 ‘자유’다.” 정혜윤 PD의 말처럼 “일과 자유 사이의 타협점을 찾는 사람들이 이 책을 읽었으면 좋겠다.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, China, Biography, Contemporary, Asia, Biography Memoir

332 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2023

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it is the living vicariously, or seeing what else is out there, but I do have an interest in reading about people’s work, even fictional accounts. So when this book came along it piqued my interest.

The content is a complete account of the different jobs Hu Anyan had until the writing of this book. He goes into the most detail while describing the package delivery job and working at a bike shop.

As the book continues Anyan discusses his internal life more, along with his social anxiety and difficulty with communicating with people. Often the job posed problems for him having these difficulties, such as when he was trying to run a business. He had a little shop and when purchasing from his wholesalers it was expected to negotiate pricing but he just accepted whatever they told him. Then he felt he lost face when realized what was going on and could not continue dealing with the same people.

One aspect of this book that I found interesting was the work culture in China. Just for one example, as a worker in the United States I am used to a 5 day/40 hour work week, but in China 6 days a week with 10-12 hours per day is expected. Anyan had some jobs were those hours were extended longer and not compensated for the extra time. Overtime pay wasn’t mentioned, likely something that doesn’t exist in China.

The writing style was fairly basic and since it is a translation it’s hard to determine if it’s from the original author or the translator. There were some clichés used that did not help and just made the writing feel awkward. It took me a while to read this book, as there wasn’t anything compelling to propel the story forward.


Thanks to Astra Publishing House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the audiobook for review.

A bit of a difftent memoir for me as it's about work life and the culture around it. I tought the translation seemed okay and the narration was easy to listen to. It felt both very personal as well as informative. 4 stars really liked it altough the work situations is awful and not healthy, I liked hearing about what the author had to say.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

虽然书名起的是在北京送快递，但作者的快递工作在他的打工生涯里只是短短一个片段。即使从事的多是以提供劳力为主的服务行业，作者敏锐地观察并积极思考着无产阶级打工者和其工作的关系，其中包括劳资关系，管理层的管理水平，职场人际，客户管理，工作对人的异化，等等。无论是蓝领还是白领，天下打工人同是天涯沦落人。无论在工作里是否能实现自我价值，生命的丰富度是无法用八小时定义的。正如作者的经历，读书写作与思考让他的人生比很多人都有厚度。

[The Reading Lantern · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative glimpse into gig work in a changing economy, living in the in-between where labour laws are nowhere to be seen. The writing is really simple, which makes it a quick read, but sometimes I do wish it had gone a bit further to add a little depth at times. I also wish that the author had a little more to say about the larger frameworks that create and profit from inhumane working conditions.

Overall, really interesting and worth a read but the writing (in the English translation at least) can be a bit clunky, making it an awkward read despite how simple it is.

[Chip Huyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe everyone who's ever ordered something online and waited for it delivered to them should read this book to understand what it's like to work in this economy.

The writing is analytical and detached. The author describes the dehumanizing working conditions as facts without laboring the point. He goes into a list of gig jobs he's done. Because the working conditions of these many jobs are quite similar, the book can feel a bit repetitive after a while.

What surprises me is the literary depth of the memoir. Perhaps it's my own bias, but I didn't expect it to have such a detailed analysis of Virginia Woolf or quoting E.H. Gombrich's "There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists."

[Alice YC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chronicle of working class life under China's particular form of capitalism - written with astonishing clarity and skill. Can't wait for the English translation if it's not a bestseller I shall be very disappointed in this world

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘I was born in Guangzhou, and had worked in Shanghai and done business in Nanning, the provincial capital of Guangxi—in March 2018—moved to Beijing. There, I delivered parcels—.’

Usually I don't (feel inclined/feel it's appropriate to) rate 'memoirs', personal writings, etc. but this is an exception because I think everyone and anyone should give this a go, and a full five star rating is just a little 'push' with regards to that (even though the translation is a bit weak (but still grateful for it because I wouldn't be able to get through the original/Chinese text as quickly as I did with this)) . I read the English translation alongside the original/Chinese text - which is fab (for me) because whenever the text in translation sat not-quite-right with me, I had the privilege to read the 'original' text and be like 'oh right, so this was they meant/was trying to convey'.

Anyway, the writer, Hu Anyan really, really loves Virginia Woolf, and that is a big surprise to me (a bit shamefully, confessedly - because me being surprised only means that I am oblivious to/ignorant of or rather too easily forgetting (to put in the simplest sense even though somewhat inaccurately) how well-read (in relation to 'foreign' or more accurately 'literature in translation' - so much so that I have come to believe that maybe (the problem is that) it is 'Anglophone' readers who don't read enough text/literature in translation) people outside of the 'Anglophone' sphere(s) are). Fuller 'review' to come later, but for now this :

‘The piece I read for my friends that day seems to me an ideal way to end—I chose to share some prose from Virginia Woolf’s The Common Reader. Woolf appears to have loved reading biographies, many of them about famous figures but also some about more ordinary folk. This piece was her response to the Memoirs of Mrs. Pilkington.

I couldn’t find any information about the book itself online. Maybe the author really was that unknown. Mrs. Pilkington—or rather Ms. Laetitia, since Pilkington abandoned her—was from a declining aristocratic family in eighteenth-century Britain. She was born around half a century before Jane Austen. An educated woman, she inherited no wealth and was deserted by her husband to raise their two children alone. She made her living writing, which explains the memoirs, but her bread and butter were stories about the underbelly of the upper classes. She claimed she would write anything for money, so it is no surprise that her work hasn’t really endured. If it hadn’t been for Woolf, I would never have known she existed. This great-granddaughter of the Earl of Kilmallock, who lodged alongside the footmen and laundresses of the dukes she once mixed with, would eventually end up in jail for rent arrears. And yet this barely scratches the surface of her many “wanderings”—or “failings.”

Laetitia prayed (only to find herself locked in Westminster Abbey by mistake), begged (and was humiliated, at least that’s how she saw it), contemplated suicide—twice. But she also possessed an immense passion for life; she loved and hated with unrelenting ferocity. She viciously cursed out anyone who hurt her and made mockeries of them in her scurrilous stories (taking creative license where it pleased her); and this very same woman cherished the meal of plover’s eggs she once shared with her tutor, and every wink of sleep she managed in spite of buzzing mayflies.

She was both emotional and thick-skinned, it seems. She had a natural, dramatic flair to her feelings and, in her writing, an instinct to “give pleasure,” which cast the hardship she suffered less as a cruel fate and more like a tragicomedy fit for the stage. Her resilience brought her back from adversity on repeated occasions, so she could throw herself once more into life with all her signature brio intact—her infectious love and hate as strong as ever. A lady of refinement, with a salty side, she was both compassionate and vengeful. The first time I read this portrait of her, I was moved to tears. Woolf concludes it with these words:

“All had been bitterness and struggle, except that she had loved Shakespeare, known Swift, and kept through all the shifts and shades of an adventurous career a gay spirit, something of a lady’s breeding, and the gallantry which, at the end of her short life, led her to crack her joke and enjoy her duck with death at her heart and duns at her pillow.”
(Virginia Woolf, The Common Reader [Harcourt, Brace and company, 1925], 175)

Love amidst despair—this is the light that illuminates life. Though her social status declined, her spirit remained noble and pure. Here, I want to pay tribute to Ms. Laetitia, whose own story has comforted and touched me, and lifted me in times I’ve felt lost. I dedicate this to her many “failings, which were great.”’

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich mochte vor allem, dass es nur um die genaue Beschreibung der Arbeit geht und nicht nur darum, an diesem konkreten Geschehen entlang was ganz anderes zu erzählen. Außerdem fand ich den Autor sympathisch (so hätte Bukowski über seine Arbeit geschrieben*, wenn er ein netter Mensch gewesen wäre), und ich mochte seine Beschreibung der Verhältnisse, die gerade nicht für ahnungslose Leute wie mich gemacht ist, sondern halt für ein chinesisches Publikum.

* Naja, vielleicht. Es ist Jahrzehnte her, dass ich da reingeschaut habe.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the writing a bit dry but still enjoyed this, especially the first half which describes the author's experience working as a delivery courier in Beijing. The second half was not as interesting though

[Xiyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10。
也许是很有现实意义的一本书，但是在我眼里这更是一本牢骚满腹的私人日记，如果少点牢骚、用更 tactful 的方式来讲述故事也许会更深刻吧。

[Elena L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ 3.5/5 stars ]

This is the memoir of Hu Anyan, a Chinese writer who ventured into many gig work.

As a gig worker in several odd jobs, from night shift worker to selling popsicles, one follows Anyan's challenges and social anxiety being a people-pleasing person. This book is informative about the often dehumanizing nature of work system, with insane workload while the worker deals with dishonesty, unfairness and bureaucracy.

Like the title indicates, most of the pages is about his job as a parcel handler, and the author's experiences feel like refreshing. Anyan dissects the concept of work, delivering the different kinds of hard work in an environment filled with messy relationships. By examining the mutant relationship between labor and creativity, one can see the way life experiences shaped the author's future artistic works.

My small complaint is that the middle feels a bit repetitive, yet, it gets more interesting as we dive into the creative work and publishing, which I also enjoyed the later reflections. With plain language and quite scattered, this book reads fast and I would have liked to see a more in-depth look on his writing journey.

I DELIVER PARCELS IN BEIJING (tr. Jack Hargreaves) is a candid memoir that echoes capitalism and work; and I found it unique.

[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Astra House books . All thoughts are my own ]

[Resh (The Book Satchel)]

I Deliver Parcels for a Living by Hu Anyan, transl by Jack Hargreaves is a thought provoking memoir of a gig worker in China, told with dead pan humor. There were scenes that felt very moving (one being when a woman did not receive her parcel and inturn questioned the delivery person for leaving it in a secure place in the building). Sometimes the pain of the situation is delivered with humor. The book showed how there aren't many alternative career paths for the gig worker, how they are exploited, how they often go out of the way to complete tasks (sometimes with no monetary benefit). It also talked about the frustrations accompanying the job and how they would sometimes try to take revenge (not literally; more like an outlet for frustrations), and also how as time goes by, they just give up on the idea of getting back at a rude customer and just go about the rest of their tasks. While the book gives a lot of info on how the gig worker functions, I was disappointed to not know more about what goes inside their head or how they feel (something which I assumed from the title, would be part of the book). The first person account is quite an eye opener about the perils of the capitalist system and how gig workers earn their living.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC. All opinions are my own
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[Leo]

täysin nollatiedoilla kiinalaisesta yhteiskunnasta varustetulle lukijalle kiinnostava, lähinnä yhden ihmisen näkökulmasta avautuva kuvaus nykytyöläisen arjesta valtavan koneiston rattaissa

näkökulmaltaan usein suppea, mutta rivien välistä kyllä aukeaa myös laajempi kuva

[Norah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Als ambitie een spectrum was van 0 tot 100, staat Hu op -20. Gecombineerd met zijn onzekerheden die tot op het bot gaan, zet Hu hier een interessant memoir neer. Het boek is veeleer een factuele uiteenzetting van het leven als pakjeskoerier dan een literair werk. De weinige emotionele inzichten in het hoofd van de auteur zijn gelinkt aan onzekerheden, angsten of het gebrek aan een ruggengraat hebben. Hoeveel jobs deze man heeft gehad puur omdat hij de persoon die het aanbiedt niet wilt teleurstellen is waanzinnig!!!! Get him studied
(Ik wil wel eens een fictie-werk van hem lezen, want ik weet niet of dit echt een accurate weergave van zijn schrijfstijl, ik hoop voor hem van niet)

[Bloss ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this for its snapshot into toxic job culture and how that manifests in China. This isn't an easy read, but I found it so interesting. This was everything I wanted No Such Thing As An Easy Job to have been!

I'm not convinced that the decision to tell Anyan's story out of order was the right one. I got a bit turned around timeline-wise a few times. But, what bothered me the most was realizing that while Anyan had incredible self-awareness and perspective at times, he kept making the strangest people-pleasing/internalized capitalist decisions in the courier jobs (that came after the later chapters). He kept saying he changed and that he wasn't such a pushover anymore, but I didn't see much evidence of that in his actions. I liked Anyan as a character. He was so easy to root for and I got so frustrated by how he didn't stand up for himself!

The pacing was pretty solid up until the final section which had a lot of pontifications about life, fulfillment, and jobs. I could've appreciated this if it had been bolder; but, despite everything he endured with these awful jobs, Anyan didn't take a stronger stance in his reflections and the book ended on a paltry note. It also kinda just tapered out where this reader would've loved to know what Anyan was up to now!

I appreciated the translation (and translator's note). This book had such a strong sense of place and I think the translator made the right decision in not watering down the elements that may not have had a direct translation.

Huge points for: likeable main character, a glimpse into Chinese job culture, translation

I had my request to review this book approved by Allen Lane / Penguin on NetGalley.

[Phoenix2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

'I Deliver Parcels in Beijing' is a biography about a man who worked many jobs, including delivering parcels.

The first part of the book was actually quite good and interesting to follow. It was more cohesive as well.

After the first two chapters, though, the story was a bit messy. It had its moments, but it wasn't as good as these first chapters.

The writing style, moreover, was honest, and it felt raw and realistic.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reads very smoothly. Every sentence provides more details about the author's 19 odd jobs—the environment, his coworkers, his thought processes behind every decision, another person that comes in and out of his life—but you read through it effortlessly. Every sentence and paragraph is interlinked with the clarity of a dissertation, so somehow, despite the entirely non-chronological way the story is told, you always know where each new piece lays. It's the type of Chinese book that will most likely never get translated into English but you want all your American friends to read.

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"But which customer thinks about how much a courier earns when they're choosing between giving five or three stars?"

This is a memoir of a man's experience working in almost twenty different jobs from when he was in high school till during the pandemic. The title refers to the last few jobs he did as a courier.

Throughout the book, I found myself feeling angry or frustrated because of the horrible and unfair work conditions. If it's just the customers who were self-absorbed assholes, fine, but it seemed like all along the production chain, bosses were treating their employees as expendable parts, which naturally resulted in employees finding ways to get something back for themselves, be it through slacking, stealing, or sabotaging those around them. People punched down because they could not punch up. Honestly I felt like every job he did was a bad job, not just the courier job but everything before that was also disturbing. Or could it be that there is genuinely no such thing as a 'good' job, a job that does not require some measure of sacrifice and suffering? The author is literally just trying to pay rent and stay alive, not even buy a house or ascend to the ranks of the bourgeoisie, but every step of the way, the bureaucracy coupled with the complete lack of worker solidarity made his life so unnecessarily hard.

Towards the end, the author talks about the concept of freedom and how a person's sense of personal freedom is not empirically tied to their circumstance. He gave the example of a farmer who has to suit the rhythms of nature but probably does not consider himself shackled, versus someone who received enough education to forever be discontent with their lot in life. Based on what I have seen, I'd agree with that, but also I wonder if the modern worker has a vastly different relationship with work now, in a time when working hard or having a degree is no guarantee of any kind of financial stability or even employability. An ordinary single income in the past could buy a house and support a family (and maybe even a mistress) but now, people barely feel able to support themselves, let alone kids.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

[Charlotte Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book as much about awful working conditions in the Chinese gig economy as it is about being a square peg in a round hole and people taking advantage of others’ kindness and naivety.
I found the matter of fact writing style weirdly soothing and tbh was always looking forward to picking this back up even though it made me feel pretty sad at times.
It made me really grateful for my lot and I’m glad the author is now able to make a living through his writing

[Lena Reads Everything · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young worker drifts through a series of exhausting odd jobs, from night shifts in southern logistics centers to parcel delivery in Beijing. Along the way, he endures grueling conditions, fleeting camaraderie, and the constant struggle to find rest and stability in anonymous mega-cities. Through it all, he develops a sharp humour and turns to reading and writing as a way to make sense of his life.

This book, first published in China in 2023, offers an eye-opening and deeply personal perspective on the realities of China’s work culture in the years leading up to COVID. Through AnYan’s candid storytelling, we’re taken inside the grind of countless odd jobs and shown how, despite the different industries, the workplace politics were almost always the same.

What struck me most was how universal his experiences felt: the mix of colleagues who genuinely cared and built solidarity, those driven purely by money and self-interest, and others content to coast by doing the bare minimum.

I really enjoyed the personal realisation as well that AnYan had at the end of how he should have stood up for himself and be true to his values, thought there were times he compromised.

The writing is at times dense with details, but I found that only made the narrative more authentic and grounded. Far from being a dry recounting, it felt like an unfiltered window into the lived experience of an ordinary worker navigating a demanding, often unforgiving environment.

Fascinating, relatable, and full of insight, it reminded me that, no matter how consuming or brutal a role may feel, at the end of the day a job is just a job. 3.75/5

Thanks to Astra PublishingHouse and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Available on the 28 October 2025.

[Eva Pu · Rating 5 out of 5]

微博上一个关注的图书编辑推荐的，阅读的过程十分愉快，作者是个观察能力强，记录也很勤勉的人，让我想起何伟就是随身带着笔记本，才写下很多旅途中的观察便于创作。有些时候甚至觉得有点翻译腔，像是在读外国作家的中译本，想来是作者多年闵读习惯的影响。
结尾提到的伍尔夫那篇读后感真的是精谁总结了这本书、 这位作者、这位作者的生活方式的灵魂：一个心中有理想，纯真且自尊的劳动者和追梦人，站在生活庞杂与污浊的十字路口，顶天立地，头颅高昂。

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the gig economy in China. Delivering packages in a small area in a large city, does not sound fun. Although, I would love to drive a trike.

I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should have just stopped reading this around 60%. Because I found the beginning sufficiently interesting and thought-provoking but oof, the last 40% was straight-up boring and a little bit pretentious with odd pacing.

For the first chunk of the book, it was a bit mundane but it also felt almost dystopian. Which, I recognize, is because of my privilege. Not unlike how some white feminists will say that all the *gestures broadly* going on is like Gilead, meanwhile Black women and other marginalized folks will remind us that much of that *more gesturing* has been happening to oppressed groups forever, I am aware that there are probably people in my community right now experience the same or worse working conditions.

Anyway, all that to say: this book exposed me to some pretty astonishing work cultures and conditions in a very matter-of-fact way, sometimes really leaning into some deadpan humour. It certainly got me thinking about class and capitalism in that context but the author himself does pretty much no analysis in that regard and just some minimal reflection.

Finally that brings me to the author himself. I can't say that I enjoyed spending time with him. I do have compassion for his social anxiety and how it led to some choices he shares but it's frustrating and often uncomfortable hearing some of his history. He does partake in some self-reflection eventually, and that softened me a bit but ultimately I found him neither relatable nor resonant. Also no thanks to the not infrequent casual fatphobia.

I received digital and audio Advance Reader Copies from NetGalley, Astra Publishing House and Brilliance Audio in exchange for an honest review.

[Memorin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mám u čtení asociace se stylem psaním a určitou mluvou Murakamiho (že by společná asijskost?), nevím, zda to může být překladem, jelikož překlad z čínštiny a japonštiny bude odlišný a i překladatel je jiný.
Zaměstnance a zaměstnavatele pojmenovává podle písmen. To zase asociace kafkovinou (mimochodem tam F. Kafku explicitně zmiňuje - a čte - stejně jako V. Woolf).
Svým feelingem a popisy malých věcí připomíná film Perfect Days, který mimochodem velmi doporučuji! - láska od prvního záchodku~ A taky tou introvertností jsou si podobní. Ale tohle je mnohem dokument a memoár.
Hot pot, bentó, svátky jara a den lampiónů <3

[Kalil Zaidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

um apanhado de relatos e reflexões sobre condições de trabalho e relações humanas q expressa não só a realidade na China, mas em qualquer país com algum nível de desigualdade atualmente. a escrita é super direta ao ponto, porém as situações e os causos são narrados de um jeito bem instigante, o livro me prendeh bastante.

o autor, além de contar sobre seus diversos empregos, também se dedica a examinar sua personalidade e o modo como lida com as pessoas e de q jeito tudo isso se conecta à sua trajetória profissional. é um livro bem honesto da parte dele e gostei bastante de como ele conduz a obra. vale muito a pena ler!

[Izzy⁷♡•°]

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting memoir that provides a glimpse into the plethora of jobs the author has had. The writing/translation was quite good and the audiobook felt like a YouTube essay only more personal. I honestly, liked the kind of detached tone the book had, since let's be honest the conditions of most of these works were awful.

Anyways had a good time, won't be rating someone's life.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this was interesting and easy to read, I did not like the writing style. I would recommend the first half of the book, but the last few chapters about odd jobs in Shanghai and Yunnan were less worthwhile. I did like that he finally included some more insight into his own views of ‘work’, but a separate chapter on this would have been better, and allowed him to bring his point across more clearly.

I did always wonder about the lives of delivery drivers in China. Good to have some of my questions answered.

[Aneeka M A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu Anyan translated by Jack Hargreaves

Reviewing this book after only reading it once doesn’t do it justice. I wanted to start reading this book again as soon as I finished it. Not only is it insightful, it is also entertaining, thought provoking and heartwarming.

To put it simply, this book is a collection of essays where the author recounts his experience of working odd jobs from early 2000s to the start of COVID in 2020.

The various odd jobs the author took up such as waiter, courier, parcel sorter, cashier, online business owner, apprentice for a manga artist etc. span various regions in China. This made the reading experience very vivid and realistic, so much so that I forgot I was reading a non-fiction book. Although, I must say that geographically this book was very hard to connect. Most of the alley names and other areas mentioned didn’t have relevant or good images on Google, so it ended up breaking the flow of my reading. But it wasn’t a problem a little creative imagination couldn’t solve : )

Despite the disconnection with the places, the author’s tone is warm, genuine and objective, which kept me immersed. He doesn’t shy away from praising or being proud of himself whenever he talked about his growth, but he also didn’t hesitate to show how he fumbled, made bad decisions or hurt other people, intentionally or unintentionally. It is very rare for me to read a book neutrally, because often I have some pointed thoughts and remarks about the characters and their decisions. I enjoyed reading this book mainly because of how frank the author was.

Each experience that the author recounted highlighted the pros and cons of the profession. It also showed the harsh realities of living in poverty, facing unfairness, burnout and meeting people who sometimes stayed and sometimes caused more damage than good. The people the author met and his interactions with them gave me a lot of food for thought. As a student who has never worked, I found the philosophical exploration of ethics, principles, rationality and objectiveness in work to be very fascinating. It also made me realise how woefully uneducated I am in regards to labour laws and other legal working conditions.

Another thing that didn’t fail to intrigue me was the self-sufficiency of China. It is a well-known fact that people in China often do not use global social media platforms (some are even banned) but, even before the development of social media, China had resources both online and offline for people to work with which were easily accessible. Although China is not a perfect country, its self-sufficiency has motivated me to dive deeper into labour laws of my own country and explore the working conditions of India apart from the corporate world.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and found it to very captivating. I do wish the flow near the second half of the book was more balanced, but still, I would highly recommend it to both lovers of fiction and non-fiction, who want to read something different yet fruitful.

Rating- 4.75/5
Thankyou Astra House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

[alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My god this was depressing. I knew it was going to be based on the subject matter but reading it only made it worse. The book also doesn't directly just follow deliveries but the general situation in China where many young (and some well-educated) people just can't get jobs at all - menial or otherwise. It might be because of the translation or the sheer volume of jobs the author takes on but it reads really quickly and frenetically and was a hard one to put down.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was refreshing to read a memoir about a normal guy, having numerous normal jobs while trying to live a normal life.