Mo Yan,Howard Goldblatt
In this novel by the 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Mo Yan, a benign old monk listens to a prospective noviceâ€™s tale of depravity, violence, and carnivorous excess while a nice little family dramaâ€”in which nearly everyone diesâ€”unfurls. But in this tale of sharp hatchets, bad water, and a rusty WWII mortar, we canâ€™t help but laugh. Reminiscent of the novels of dark masters of European absurdism like GÃ¼nter Grass, Witold Gombrowicz, or Jakov Lind, Mo Yanâ€™sÂ ,POW!,Â is a comic masterpiece., In this bizarre romp through the Chinese countryside, the author treats us to a cornucopia of cooked animal fleshâ€”ostrich, camel, donkey, dog, as well as the more common varieties. As his dual narratives merge and feather into one another, each informing and illuminating the other, Mo Yan probes the character and lifestyle of modern China. Displaying his many talents, as fabulist, storyteller, scatologist, master of allusion and clichÃ©, and more,Â ,POW!,Â carries the reader along quickly, hungrily, and giddily, up until its surprising dÃ©nouement., Mo Yan has been called one of the great novelists of modern Chinese literature andÂ ,the New York Times Book ReviewÂ ,has hailed his work as harsh and gritty, raunchy and funny. He writes big, sometimes mystifying, sometimes infuriating, but always entertaining novelsâ€”andÂ ,POW!,Â is no exception.,Â 
Fiction,Cultural,China,Historical,Historical Fiction,Nobel Prize,Literature,Asian Literature,Chinese Literature,Literary Fiction,Food and Drink,Food,Novels,Cultural,Asia
POW!