wlehner_539Description
Meng Jin's critically acclaimed debut novel, Little Gods, was praised as "spectacular and emotionally polyphonic (Omar El-Akkad, BookPage), "powerful" (Washington Post), and "meticulously observed, daringly imagined" (Claire Messud). Now Jin turns her considerable talents to short fiction, in ten thematically linked stories.
Written during the turbulent years of the Trump administration and the first year of the pandemic, these stories explore intimacy and isolation, coming-of-age and coming to terms with the repercussions of past mistakes, fraying relationships and surprising moments of connection. Moving between San Francisco and China, and from unsparing realism to genre-bending delight, Self-Portrait with Ghost considers what it means to live in an age of heightened self-consciousness, seemingly endless access to knowledge, and little actual power.
Turner Heathcote @wlehner_539
August 13, 2022
4
These stories are interesting and each one wildly different. I found some of them more interesting than others but over all they are entertaining and thought-provoking. I can imagine being in an English class analyzing these line by line. There’s a lot to digest!