Vessel
eBook - ePub

Vessel

A Memoir

  1. 302 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

About this book

"Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary life in China, and highly recommended for memoir enthusiasts in general." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"Chongda paints a tantalizing portrait of a changing China in his dazzling English-language debut.[ Vessel ] shines with the bright talent of an excellent storyteller." -- Publishers Weekly

An unprecedented and heartfelt memoir that illuminates the lives of rural Chinese workers, offering a portrait of generational strife, family, love, and loss that crosses cultures and time.

Cai Chongda spent his childhood in a rural fishing village in Fujian province. When his father—a former communist gang leader turned gas station owner—has a stroke that partially paralyzes him, his responsibilities fall to Cai, his only son.

Assuming his new role as head of the family, Cai toils alongside his mother and older sister to pay the medical bills that have become a part of a rapidly changing Chinese society. As Cai works his way through university and moves to Beijing, eventually becoming the editorial director of GQ China, he finds his life increasingly at odds with the family he supports but has left behind.

Like The Glass Castle and Hillbilly Elegy, Vessel neither romanticizes nor condemns the people and circumstances that shaped a young man's life, but instead offers a way forward, revealing how tradition can enrich modern life.

Translated from the Chinese by Dylan Levi King

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Yes, you can access Vessel by Cai Chongda, Dylan Levi King in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Social Science Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. 1. Vessel
  5. 2. My Mother’s House
  6. 3. Frailty
  7. 4. Christmas in the ICU
  8. 5. Friends in High Places
  9. 6. Bella Zhang
  10. 7. Tiny and Tiny
  11. 8. Wenzhan
  12. 9. Hope
  13. 10. You Can’t Hide the Ocean
  14. 11. A Thousand Identical Cities
  15. 12. The Question We All Must Answer Eventually
  16. 13. Homecoming
  17. 14. Where Is This Train Going?
  18. Afterword
  19. A Note from the Translator
  20. About the Author
  21. Copyright
  22. About the Publisher