Author Description

From Kirkus Reviews paper 0-8248-1803-2 Blades Of Grass ($48.00; $18.95 paper; Oct. 1; 320 pp.; 0-8248-1506-8; paper 0-8248-1803-2) An attractive collection of 15 nicely varied stories, set mostly in China in the 1930s, by the pseudonymous master (18991966) who was murdered by Maos Red Guards, then rehabilitated in 1978. Several of Lao Shes richly characterized, fully plotted stories are explicitly political: the bitter Neighbors and the ironical Black Li and White Li (about two brothers whose respective liberal and conservative beliefs keep them forever estranged) are exemplary. But hes at his best in tales that teeter on the edge of surrealism and fantasy, such as Rabbit (a Gogolian fable of obsession, sexual irregularity, and psychological disintegration), the wry Also a Triangle (about two financially strapped soldiers who share a wife), and especially the subtle, disturbing An Old Mans Romance. Lao Shes expert translators have also provided a detailed and informative Postscript that convincingly makes the case for including him among Chinas greatest modern writers. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Product Description "If you want to write good short stories," Lao She once observed, "you have to give it everything you’ve got. The world will allow the existence of a very imperfect novel, but it won’t be that polite with a short story. Art, after all, is not like a pig—the fatter the better."Lao She’s stories proved to be very good indeed, moving and delighting readers for many years and establishing him as a master of classic modern fiction. Thankfully we now have access to a rich collection of his short stories in superb English translations. These stories showcase the varied facets of Lao She’s impressive talent and draw us effortlessly into his world-and we emerge the better for it.This is a writer eternally immersed in and fascinated by the kaleidoscope of humankind. The stories are characterized by humor and by i