Yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award. The vagrants, a debut novel, is set in china in the spring of 1979 in the aftermath of the cultural revolution. She is an editor of the brooklynbased literary magazine a public space. Westerners in general and americans in particular come to fiction about modern china outfitted, with filters that tend to explain everything bad or in any way unfortunate as, in one way or another, the consequence of communist party rule. Yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. Yiyun lis first fulllength novel, the vagrants, is another in a steadily growing line of chinese tales, in both fictional and memoir forms, from the. She is the author of two novels, the vagrants and kinder than solitude, two story collections, a thousand years of good prayers and gold boy, emerald girl, and a book of nonfiction, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Gold boy, emerald girl, her second collection, was a finalist of story prize and shortlisted for frank o full biography link to yiyun lis website.
Yiyun li answers that proposition in the vagrants brilliantly, with a resounding yes. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and has lived in american since 1996. Dear friends, in these unsettled times, like many of you i. Yiyun li s novel is based on the true story which took. There are so many tragic stories here and yet amongst the gloom there is hope, and life and even humour. Gold boy, emerald girl, her second collection, was a finalist of story prize and shortlisted for frank o full biography link to yiyun li s website. I did not yet know that some people were assigned a fate that left them on the sidelines, listening. Read and discuss war and peace with yiyun li and a public space. The vagrants, yiyun li s first novel, is a masterfully crafted and grippingly told account of a dark moment in the life of a provincial town in li s native china. Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel. Li is the author of a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girl. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing was rocked by the democratic wall movement, an anticommunist groundswell designed to move china beyond the dark shadow of the cultural revolution toward a more enlightened and open society.
The vagrants, set in 1979 china, is the story of those affected by the execution of a 28yearold counterrevolutionary. Yiyun li has 31 books on goodreads with 54552 ratings. Sign me up to get more news about literary fiction books. The praise and awards garnered by that collection has put yiyun li on the american literary map, no small accomplishment for a recently arrived 1996 immigrant writing her stories, not in her native chinese, but in english, the language of her adoptive country.
Her memoir, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, was published in 2017. Praise yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. Its a wellstructured story and all the characters complement each other so that by the time the reader gets about 50 pages in, you have a good sense of the context and can concentrate on the individual experiences. Ann patchett, author of run every once in a while a voice and a subject are so perfectly matched that it seems as if this writer must have been born to write this book. I grabbed this book, her first novel, on a whim at the library. Her first novel, the vagrants, draws heavily on the art of the short. The day started before sunrise, on march 21, 1979, when teacher gu woke up and found. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable.
I never thought i could care so much about characters who are so flawed, so unimportant. Yiyun li s the vagrants, published in 2009 by random house established the author as a new and welcome voice in american fiction the story is set during the cultural revolution in china near a. Her novels include the vagrants and kinder than solitude. She has received fellowships and awards from lannan foundation and whiting foundation. Li s debut short story collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and penhemingway award. Yiyun li is the author of four works of fictionkinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. The year is 1979, 10 years before the violent protests at tiananmen square. Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun li s grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and came to the united states in 1996. Shortlisted for the 2011 international impac dublin literary award yiyun li brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing was rocked by the democratic wall movement, an anticommunist groundswell designed to move china beyond the dark shadow of the cultural revolution toward a more enlightened and open society.
Yiyun lis 2005 story collection a thousand years of good prayers which won four prizes, including the guardian first book award was. Born in beijing, china, yiyun li is the author of four novels, two short story collections, and a memoir. The vagrants, the first novel by chineseamerican author yiyun li who lives in oakland and teaches at ucdavis, and whose 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers, garnered much critical praise is set in 1979 in a provincial chinese town, where a former red guard is being executed as a counterrevolutionary. Yiyun lis book is a masterpiece on this as she assembles a cross section of ordinary people, both the oppressed and oppressor, and tells their story with empathy and without judgement. Yiyun li, professor of creative writing in the lewis center for the arts at princeton university, has received the 2020 penjean stein book award for her novel where reasons end.
Muddy river, a small provincial chinese city, is the setting for this intense and thoughtprovoking debut novel from yiyun li, who was raised in beijing. Her first novel, the vagrants, draws heavily on the art of the short story as it follows a disparate group of citizens of the industrial town of muddy river over three months in 1979. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Her earlier book, a thousand years of good prayers, is a collection of short stories. Emerald girl yiyun li s second collection of short stories. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you more about yiyun li. Regardless, with so many predecessor books, one might well wonder whether there were any more stories left to tell set in those specific years. Y iyun li s 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. This book s powerfully threedimensional characters include. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Her novel, the vagrants, won the gold medal of california book award for fiction, and was shortlisted for dublin impac award. Her story, set in the small town of muddy river, employs what amounts to an ensemble cast.
Yiyun li is the author of four works of fiction kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girl and the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. The vagrants by yiyun lia talented young writers chilling portrait of life in postmao china impresses stephanie merritt. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to maintain hope amid cruel circumstance. The vagrants, her first novel, depicts a comparable showdown with the authoritarian chinese state, but one that takes place on a smaller scale. Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions, including the penhemingway award and guardian first book award for a thousand years of good prayers, and the 2020 penjean stein book award for where reasons end.
Lis magnificent and jawdroppingly grim novel centers on the 1979 execution of a chinese counterrevolutionary in the provincial town of. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and guardian first book award. Yiyun li interweaves the stories of many people who live in the nondescript town of muddy river, ranging from tong, a seven year old boy devoted to his dog, to. Starting march 18, join us for a free virtual book cluba moment each day when we can gather together as a community. A harrowing portrait of a womans execution by an oppressive chinese regime, and how her death affects an entire provincial town. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s. Since then, i have recommended them to a number of literary sorts, and i still think they have a unique and moving voice. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of many awards.
Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. There is a magnetic smalltown universality to the vagrants, the first novel by an acclaimed writer of short stories, yiyun li. Read the vagrants, by yiyun li online on bookmate the novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer acclaimed by michel faber as having the talent, the vision and the respect fo. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the award. Summary in luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s. It may be set against the grey cultural landscape of communist china, but this novel is full of colour. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award, penhemingway award, guardian first book award, and california book award for.
Yiyun li is the recipient of a macarthur fellowship, the frank oconnor award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book award. Ann patchett a starkly moving portrayal of china in the wake of the cultural revolution, this book weaves together the stories of a vivid group of characters all struggling to find a home in their own country. Yiyun li masterfully explores the landscape of loss with delicacy and precision, restoring the fractured lives of ordinary people on the margins, endowing them with agency and power. Her novel, the vagrants, was shortlisted for dublin impac award. Even those who seem unconnected to the tragedy an elevenyearold boy seeking fame and glory, a nineteenyearold village idiot in love with a young and deformed girl, and old couple making a living by scavenging the towns garbage cans are caught up in remorseless turn of events.