Boy in the Twilight

“These are expertly drawn sketches of a time and a place, the people thoroughly recognizable.” —The Boston Globe

“[China’s] transformations and what they leave in their wake have become the central theme of Yu’s writing. . . . Many readers consider him China’s greatest living author.” —The Huffington Post

“Compelling. . . . Precise, elegant prose.” —The Economist
 
“Mesmerizing tales. . . . Showcases this acclaimed writer’s mastery.” —Elle

“Folktales cast in a modern-day setting. . . . [Yu] uses the soft patter of language to wash away at least some of the hardened surface, and enduring mystery, of human behavior.” —Time Out New York

“The stories in Yu Hua’s Boy in the Twilight mine the lives of ordinary folks in small-town China.” —Vanity Fair

“A Chinese writer noted for his ‘popular realism’ sketches a portrait of his country through fictional vignettes of everyday life.” —O, the Oprah Magazine

“Yu’s clear-eyed voice perfectly suits the lives of his characters, whose humanness we recognize, even as it makes us smile or, more often, flinch.” —The Plain Dealer

“How much happiness should one expect? How much security? How much adventure? What sorts of kitchen appliances, what kind of husband? . . . The stories in this collection . . . deal with the treachery latent in ordinary human relationships: marriages, friendships, professional contacts, and the bonds between parents and children. . . . Hua’s ‘hidden’ China . . . is one of regular people: not allegorical caricatures or media archetypes, but men and women struggling to sort out their lives in the early years of reform.” —Boston Review

“Yu Hua grabs his readers’ attention and keeps them guessing and involved till the very end. . . . Boy in the Twilight offers an enduring testimony to the power of the short story and its ability to convey epic themes through the point of a pen.” —The New York Journal of Books

“Yu delivers wonderful and vivid character portrayals. . . . He has exposed a darker, painful side of ordinary life in China and invited us to see things as they truly are—frightening both in their simplicity and their strength.” —South China Morning Post 

“[Yu Hua] hones his recognizable minimalist craft to comic and tragic perfection, suffusing these brutally honest, philosophical pieces with compassion and cruel twists of sucker-punching irony that take the reader’s breath away.” —Shelf Awareness (starred)

“A standout collection from an international literary superstar.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Aficionados of the short form will savor these stories as both adroit literature and a sharp cultural lens. Appreciative readers of such diverse recent collections as Emma Donoghue’s Astray and Yoko Ogawa’s Revenge will want to add this title to waiting shelves.” —Library Journal (starred)