Strange Beasts of China

Product Description 
A New York Times Editors' Choice and Notable Book of 2021\n"Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror of 2021"—The Washington Post\nFrom one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Chinese literature, an uncanny and playful novel that blurs the line between human and beast…\nIn the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness—save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes, and strange birthmarks. 
 Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast, and is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self. \nPart detective story, part metaphysical enquiry, 
Strange Beasts of China engages existential questions of identity, humanity, love and morality with whimsy and stylistic verve. 
 Review 
One of 
The New York Times "100 Notable Books of 2021," which is selected by the editors of 
The New York Times Book Review\n"Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror of 2021"—The Washington Post\n"By far my favorite fantasy book of the year is 'S 
trange Beasts of China' by Yan Ge, translated by Jeremy Tiang. It’s a beautiful mosaic novel, composed of different entries in a quasi-bestiary." 
- Silvia Moreno-Garcia, bestselling author of Mexican Gothic\n"Delightful. Through the narrator’s futile quest to catalog beasts, Yan captures the fluidness of city life, the way urban space defies definition even for people hellbent on making sense of it." 
—The New York Times\n"Magical realism of the best kind, where the spectacular is paired with just enough irony and daffy humor to keep it grounded on earth—or whichever world this fun and beguiling book takes place." — 
The Wall St. Journal \n"A page-turner whose dense, fantastical atmosphere lingers long after the read." 
—Vulture" 
Strange Beasts of China feels like a riddle and a parable and a dream, the kind of book you want to get lost in." 
—The Philadelphia Inquirer 
 "Mixes a sort of Borgesian bestiary of mysterious creatures with a deep sense of urban andsocial alienation to produce an enthralling and fascinating narrative. A breath of fresh air in theoften hard-sf dominated field of recently translated Chinese science fiction, this novel is a must-read for fans of Vandermeer, Borges, or fantasy fiction that blurs the line between genre and literary fiction." 
—Booklist (starred review)\n"The overall effect of Yan’s storytelling is dreamy and hypnotic, sometimes opaque but always captivating. These cryptic but well-told tales offer much to chew on." 
—Publisher's Weekly\n"Moving and magical, 
Strange Beasts of China is stunningly alive and unsettling in all the best ways. I am in awe of its bold imagination, endless depth, and philosophical weight. Every page of this book is magnetic." 
—K-Ming Chang, author of Bestiary\n"The delights of 
Strange Beasts of China, an inspired bestiary as investigative novel, are the authentic human emotions evoked. Fear, loneliness, melancholy, and hope fill every page. I can't wait to read Yan Ge's wonderful novel again." 
—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts\n" 
Strange Beasts of China is visceral and strange, its hypnotic storytelling punctuated by twists that feel like knifejabs: sudden, tearing, alive. Yan Ge has created haunting beasts that move through a warped yet familiar world, and Jeremy Tiang's translation is wonderful. I felt this one in my bones." 
—Isabel Yap, author of Never Have I Ever\n“I loved the novel 
—charged with melancholy surrealism, its preoccupations with being and loneliness are both timeless and all too timely. The translation by Jeremy Tiang is especially brilliant and engaging.” 
—Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti\n“I don’t know if it was the unexpected twists and turns in the protagonist’s storyline, or Tiang’s playful-yet-searing English, or the mirror this book hold

Literature & Fiction

Ge, Yan

Literary

Melville House

A New York Times Editors' Choice\n"Luminous and beguiling . . ."—The Washington Post\n"Magical Realism at its best . . ."—The Wall Street Journal\nFrom one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Chinese literature, an uncanny and playful novel that blurs the line between human and beast…\nIn the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness—save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes, and strange birthmarks. 
Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast, and is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self.\nPart detective story, part metaphysical enquiry, Strange Beasts of China engages existential questions of identity, humanity, love and morality with whimsy and stylistic verve.

<div>This compact&nbsp;novella contains a&nbsp;gripping psychological tale, enlivened by wickedly sharp insights into contemporary small-town life in China.&nbsp; Yun Yun lives in a small West China town with her widowed father and an uncle, aunt, and older cousin who live nearby. One day, her once-secure world begins to fall apart. Through her eyes, we observe her cousin, Zhang Qing, keen to dive into the excitements of adolescence, but clashing with repressive parents. Ensuing tensions reveal that the relationships between the two families are founded on a terrible lie.</div>

White Horse

Children's Books

HopeRoad

Set in a fictional town in West China, this is the story of the Duan-Xue family, owners of the lucrative chilli bean paste factory, and their formidable matriarch. As Gran’s eightieth birthday approaches, her middle-aged children get together to make preparations. Family secrets are revealed and long-time sibling rivalries flare up with renewed vigour. As Shengqiang struggles unsuccessfully to juggle the demands of his mistress and his wife, the biggest surprises of all come from Gran herself…… 
(Winner of English Pen Award)
“Yan Ge’s writing is outstandingly imaginative… The Chilli Bean Paste Clan delves deep into the pettiness and shortcomings of family relationships, dissecting them with remarkable insight and humour.... Yan Ge is not just a talented story-teller, she is also a versatile stylist, able to put her mastery of the local dialect to excellent use.” —China Literature Media Award judging panel, 2013
“A fascinating glimpse into the life of a dysfunctional family in modern China.”—Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

The Chilli Bean Paste Clan

Humor & Satire

Balestier Press

A New Yorker BEST BOOK of 2023 | MOST ANTICIPATED by Nylon • Rolling Stone • The Millions\nFrom multi-award-winning author Yan Ge, a shimmering, genre-bending English-language debut that announces the next phase in a major literary career.\n“As haunting, dreamlike, and addictive as a melatonin-induced slumber.” —Nylon\n“Deft... Elsewhere [explores] the power of language across the Chinese diaspora to either bring people together or push them apart.”—The New York Times\nIn twenty years, Yan Ge has authored thirteen books written in Chinese, working across an impressive range of genres and subjects. Now, Yan Ge transposes her dynamic storytelling onto another linguistic landscape. The result is a collection humming with her trademark wit and style—and with the electricity of a seasoned artist flexing her virtuosity with a new medium.\nA young woman bonds with an encampment of poets after a devastating earthquake. Against her better judgment, a college student begins to fall for an acquaintance who might be dead. And a Confucian disciple returns to the Master bearing a jar full of grisly remains. Weaving between reality and dreamy surreality, these nine stories wend toward elsewhere, a comforting, frustrating, just-out-of-reach place familiar to anyone who has ever experienced longing. Through it all Yan Ge’s protagonists peer thoughtfully at their own feelings of displacement—physical or emotional, the result of travel, emigration, or exile. Brilliant and irresistibly readable, Elsewhere explores the utility (or not) of art in the face of lonesomeness, quotidian, and spectacular.\nThis highly anticipated collection is further proof that Yan Ge is a generational literary talent, to be watched closely for decades to come.

Elsewhere: Stories

Scribner

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ge, Yan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ge, Yan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ge, Yan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Strange Beasts of China

Strange Beasts of China

White Horse

The Chilli Bean Paste Clan

Elsewhere: Stories