{"product_id":"the-song-of-everlasting-sorrow-a-novel-of-shanghai-9780231143431","title":"The Song of Everlasting Sorrow: A Novel of Shanghai","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet in post-World War II Shanghai, \u003ci\u003eThe Song of Everlasting Sorrow\u003c\/i\u003e follows the adventures of Wang Qiyao, a girl born of the \u003ci\u003elongtong\u003c\/i\u003e, the crowded, labyrinthine alleys of Shanghai's working-class neighborhoods. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInfatuated with the glitz and glamour of 1940s Hollywood, Wang Qiyao seeks fame in the Miss Shanghai beauty pageant, and this fleeting moment of stardom becomes the pinnacle of her life. During the next four decades, Wang Qiyao indulges in the decadent pleasures of pre-liberation Shanghai, secretly playing mahjong during the antirightist Movement and exchanging lovers on the eve of the Cultural Revolution. Surviving the vicissitudes of modern Chinese history, Wang Qiyao emerges in the 1980s as a purveyor of \"old Shanghai\"--a living incarnation of a new, commodified nostalgia that prizes splendor and sophistication--only to become embroiled in a tragedy that echoes the pulpy Hollywood noirs of her youth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the violent persecution of communism to the liberalism and openness of the age of reform, this sorrowful tale of old China versus new, of perseverance in the face of adversity, is a timeless rendering of our never-ending quest for transformation and beauty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWang Anyi began her career as a writer in 1978. Her books in English include \u003ci\u003eLapse of Time\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLove in a Small Town\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLove on a Barren Mountain\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBrocade Valley\u003c\/i\u003e, and the novel \u003ci\u003eBaotown\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a finalist for the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book of the Year award. She currently lives in Shanghai and is a professor of Chinese literature at Fudan University. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMichael Berry is associate professor of contemporary Chinese cultural studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the translator of several novels and the author of Jia Zhangke's \u003ci\u003eHometown Trilogy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSpeaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSusan Chan Egan, an independent scholar, is the author of \u003ci\u003eA Latterday Confucian: Reminiscences of William Hung 1893-1980\u003c\/i\u003e and coauthor of \u003ci\u003eA Pragmatist and His Free Spirit: The Half-Century Romance of Hu Shi and Edith Clifford Williams\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50460064317714,"sku":"9780231143431","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_03543767-5179-4b6c-8732-72833812d3f7.jpg?v=1730024962","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-song-of-everlasting-sorrow-a-novel-of-shanghai-9780231143431","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}