Harbin And Other Stories

Abstract

As we get older, we often lose the wonder, imagination and curiosity of our childhoods. Life experiences make us cynical and jaded. But does it have to be this way? Might there be benefits to embracing childlike wonder in adulthood? Harbin and Other Stories portray deeply flawed characters who are struggling against the forces of patriarchy, modernity, and capitalism; characters who are exploring their perceptions of reality and fantasy; questioning what matters and rediscovering child-like wonder. The thirteen stories in this collection are set in a variety of domestic and international locations; often have a young, educated female protagonist; and borrow conventions from the genres of folklore and fairy tale, realism and fabulism, absurdism and satire. The collection as a whole moves from cynicism to wonder. A burnt-out American girl studying abroad in Harbin enters into a surreal sexual relationship with the ghost of a Chinese boy who jumped from a window after failing the gāokǎo. A go-go dancer in Las Vegas struggles to reconcile her current occupation with the feminist principles of her college days and her anthropological research on matriarchies. A shaky substitute teacher discovers, with the help of her orchestra class, the true nature of the universe. Harbin and Other Stories is for those who want to sharpen their perceptions; those who want to see the filigrees, the complex gray areas, the beauties and uglies hiding in plain sight