This new collection of short stories by the award-winning author of Waiting conf
irms Ha Jin's reputation as a master storyteller, as well as a master of the min
iature. In The Bridegroom, the twelve stories capture a China in transition, mov
ing from Maoism towards a more open society. For these men and women, starting t
o feel the influence of the West, the daily dramas of a system that still strugg
les to control their every move and thought are made all the more painful.
As
his characters, from an entrepreneur, transformed from black-market criminal to
free market hero, to the workers at Cowboy Chicken, to the professor mistaken b
y the police for a saboteur, continue to struggle against petty injustices and h
eartbreaks, Ha Jin celebrates their lives and humanity with the understated humo
ur and simplicity that has won him widespread acclaim.
