9780231528054_

Huang Fan burst onto Taiwans literary scene in the 1980s, publishing pointed urban portraits and political satires that captured the reading publics attention. After decades of innovative work, he is now one of Asias most celebrated authors, crucial to understanding the development of Taiwanese literature over the past fifty years.

The first collection of Huang Fans work to appear in English, this anthology includes Zero, a prize-winning dystopian novella echoing George Orwells chilling 1984. Set in a postapocalyptic world, Zero features Xi De, a young man raised in an elite community who risks everything to challenge his societys charismatic leader and technocratic rule. Huang Fans novella poignantly illustrates the quandary of an idealistic man trapped among conflicting claims to truth, unsure whether to think of himself as heroic or foolish in his ultimate choice of resistance and sacrifice.

This anthology also features three critically acclaimed short stories: Lai Suo, which established Huang Fans reputation as a groundbreaking author; The Intelligent Man; and How to Measure the Width of a Ditch. In Lai Suo, a nave individual becomes the pawn of powerful men intent on political advancement. In How to Measure the Width of a Ditch, an unreliable narrator spins an absurdist, metafictional tale of his childhood in Taipei, and in The Intelligent Man, Huang Fan weaves an allegorical satire about political reunification set against a backdrop of Taiwanese migration to the United States, with a trenchant look at expanding business interests in mainland China and Southeast Asia. All together, these remarkable works portray the tensions and aspirations of modern Taiwan.

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This anthology also features three critically acclaimed short stories: "Lai Suo," which established Huang Fans reputation as a groundbreaking author; "The Intelligent Man"; and "How to Measure the Width of a Ditch." In "Lai Suo," a nave individual becomes the pawn of powerful men intent on political advancement. In "How to Measure the Width of a Ditch," an unreliable narrator spins an absurdist, metafictional tale of his childhood in Taipei, and in "The Intelligent Man," Huang Fan weaves an allegorical satire about political reunification set against a backdrop of Taiwanese migration to the United States, with a trenchant look at expanding business interests in mainland China and Southeast Asia. All together, these remarkable works portray the tensions and aspirations of modern Taiwan.

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Zero and Other Fictions

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