{"product_id":"a-dictionary-of-maqiao-9780385339353","title":"A Dictionary of Maqiao","description":"From the daring imagination of one of China's greatest living novelists comes a work of startling power and originality-the story of a young man \"displaced\" to a small village in rural China during the 1960s. Told in the format of a dictionary, with a series of vignettes disguised as entries, \u003ci\u003eA Dictionary of Maqiao\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel of bold invention-and a fascinating, comic, deeply moving journey through the dark heart of the Cultural Revolution.\u003cbr\u003eEntries trace the wisdom and absurdities of Maqiao: the petty squabbles, family grudges, poverty, infidelities, fantasies, lunatics, bullies, superstitions, and especially the odd logic in their use of language-where the word for \"beginning\" is the same as the word for \"end\"; \"little big brother\" means older sister; to be \"scientific\" means to be lazy; and \"streetsickness\" is a disease afflicting villagers visiting urban areas. Filled with colorful characters-from a weeping ox to a man so poisonous that snakes die when they bite him-\u003ci\u003eA Dictionary of Maqiao\u003c\/i\u003e is both an important work of Chinese literature and a probing inquiry into the extraordinary power of language.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/27\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780385339353\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.02lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.22h x 5.27w x 1.01d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eIngram Advance\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2005 pg. 63\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2013 pg. 47\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Han Shaogong","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44655471657141,"sku":"9780385339353","price":19.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_1242f580-de58-42e2-94e1-4a97304519d5.jpg?v=1727192359","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/a-dictionary-of-maqiao-9780385339353","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}