Translated from the Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen
Sign in to Granta.com.
Translated from the Chinese by Eric Abrahamsen
Sign in to Granta.com.
‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
A Yi’s books include the novel A Perfect Crime and the collections Grey Stories and The Bird Saw Me. His work has appeared in the Guardian and Paper Republic. He is the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Chutzpah. He lives in Beijing.
More about the author →‘A man will only return to his birthplace in the countryside when he is dead. This is our reality.’
‘Once I came home at the end of August, it was as if nothing had ever happened. Indeed, nothing had.‘
‘Otome games are about women writing romance plots designed to please women – paper hubbies and their voice actors are just a conduit to make the experience more believable.’
Yun Sheng on the rise of virtual love in China.
‘As many as thirty-five states in the world are thought to have the capacity (if not the wish) to build a nuclear weapon.’
Granta magazine is run by the Granta Trust (charity number 1184638)
The copyright to all contents of this site is held either by Granta or by the individual authors, and none of the material may be used elsewhere without written permission. For reprint enquiries, contact us.