Books by Thomas Meaney (editor)
” It has a story by Yan Lianke who’s thought of as one of the most critical voices in the literary sphere. He lambasts and satirizes various moves the Chinese Communist Party has made, and his works are often banned inside of China. Then there are other writers represented in the collection who work inside the official writers’ organizations or who are not particularly political. You get pieces by writers who had very little schooling and learned to write while they were working in factories, as well as poets and writers who have an almost punk sensibility. Then you also have representations of more refined writing. There is also a lot of attention to how different regions can be in terms of writing. There’s a heavy representation of writers from the Northeast. It’s a way to get out of a Beijing or Shanghai-centric view of China. That’s what I really liked about it.” Read more...
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Historian
Interviews where books by Thomas Meaney (editor) were recommended
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1
Granta 169: China
by Thomas Meaney (editor) -
2
Women and Their Warlords: Domesticating Militarism in Modern China
by Kate Merkel-Hess -
3
Thoughts from the Ice-Drinker's Studio: Essays on China and the World
by Liang Qichao & Peter Zarrow (translator) -
4
The Great Transformation: China's Road from Revolution to Reform
by Chen Jian & Odd Arne Westad -
5
Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food
by Michelle T. King
The Best China Books of 2024, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
The Best China Books of 2024, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
From an issue of a literary magazine that brings together contemporary writing from across mainland China to books focusing on different periods of its 20th-century history, it’s been another good year for books about China available to English readers. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, a professor at UC Irvine and specialist in modern Chinese history, talks us through some of his favorite books about China published in 2024.
