{"product_id":"in-the-face-of-death-we-are-equal-9781803094441","title":"In the Face of Death We Are Equal","description":"\u003cb\u003eMu Cao is a bold, pioneering Chinese novelist who dares to challenge the status quo--living openly gay in China and shedding a strong light on the plight of everyday Chinese. This is a humorous, magical realist novel that explores the exploitation of the young living in China's poor countryside.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Those who know me call me Old He, and they also know that I've worked in a crematorium for my entire life\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\" Here begins Mu Cao's novel \u003ci\u003eIn the Face of Death We Are Equal\u003c\/i\u003e, an unrelentingly realistic portrait of working-class gay men in the underbelly of Chinese society. He Donghai is days away from his sixtieth birthday and long-awaited retirement from his job as a corpse burner at a Beijing crematorium. As he approaches the momentous day, he reflects on his life and his relationship with a special group of young men who live and love on the margins of Chinese society. One of them is Ah Qing, a young migrant worker who leaves his village in Henan Province to earn a living in cities--and who has an unexpected personal connection to He. Through a disrupted and nonlinear narrative technique, and alternating between first, second, and third person, \u003ci\u003eIn the Face of Death We Are Equal\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of Ah and other young men like him. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Sometimes enraging, often humorous, but always powerful, this novel explores the economic and sexual exploitation of young men and women from China's impoverished countryside who seek survival in the shadow of China's economic \"miracle.\" Deftly translated by Scott E. Myers, it is the first title in Seagull's new Pride List, which showcases important queer writing from around the world. Written in Mu Cao's trademark earthy, sometimes graphic, idiom, \u003ci\u003eIn the Face of Death We Are Equal\u003c\/i\u003e will be a valuable addition to queer and Chinese literature in translation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMu Cao\u003c\/b\u003e has no diplomas, is not a member of the Chinese Writers' Association, and publishes almost entirely outside of official channels. He has been described as a folk poet and a \"voice from the bottom of Chinese society.\" His avant-garde novels, poetry, and short story collections include \u003ci\u003eThe Transsexual Age\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Treasured Book of Sunflowers\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSelected Poems of Mu Cao\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eScream of a Hundred Lan Yus\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. \u003cb\u003eScott E. Myers\u003c\/b\u003e is a translator of Chinese who focuses on contemporary queer fiction. He lives in Monterey, California. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seagull Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50911482708242,"sku":"9781803094441","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3c031693-c1fa-43b7-b779-e187ce0c5ba7.jpg?v=1738744454","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/in-the-face-of-death-we-are-equal-9781803094441","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}