Short Story Monday: A Man Like Him by Yiyun Li
Teacher Fei is an unusual man. He is a 64 year old retired elementary school art teacher who lives at home with his mother. He has never been married nor has he had sexual relations with a female. His mother's health is failing so he spends a lot of time taking care of her.
Whenever Teacher Fei gets the chance to get out and away from his mother, he goes to a local internet cafe to visit chat rooms and read articles. He comes across an article about a girl who believed her father has cheated on her mother. The father and mother have separated and the girl is seeking revenge on her father and suing him.
Teacher Fei feels defensive for the father and seeks him out. He goes to his work and begs him to go to a nearby cafe to talk. We find out a lot about Teacher Fei during their discussion. (I won't give away spoilers here). Teacher Fei encourages the father to fight back.
This is a very interesting story set in China. It is only eight pages but really packs a punch. It touches on life in communist China and has suspense. It kept me turning the pages. Highly recommended! It appeared in The New Yorker and you can read it here. I have never read anything by Yiyun Li before but she is on my TBR now!
5/5
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If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!
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I Have Yiyun Li's collection of shjort stories, A thousand Years of Good Prayers. One of the best reads in my collection.
And thanks for linking me! I will do the same.
gautami tripathy said... May 18, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Gautami, I added A thousand Years of Good Prayers to my TBR. Thanks for linking
Teddy Rose said... May 18, 2009 at 11:38 AM
This author is new to me. I've bookmarked the story and will read it later - thank you!
JoAnn said... May 18, 2009 at 6:17 PM
I hope you enjoy it JoAnn!
Teddy Rose said... May 18, 2009 at 9:08 PM
Here is the link for my review of Thousan Years of Good Prayers
gautami tripathy said... May 19, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I have not read her short story collection but I have read her novel "The Vagrants" and it is one of my top reads for the year.
Beverly said... May 24, 2009 at 6:01 AM
Beverly, I just added The Vagrants to my TBR. Thanks!
Teddy Rose said... May 24, 2009 at 11:58 AM
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