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Author Talk: Kaitlin Solimine on Empire of Glass

Finished Thu, Mar 22, 2018 , 7pm
Radisson Collection Hotel (Xing Guo Shanghai)
78 Xingguo Lu, near Huashan Lu

About

Author Kaitlin Solimine discusses Empire of Glass – a grand, experimental epic chronicling the seismic changes in China over the last half-century through the lens of one family’s experiences. In the mid-1990s, an American teenager – called Lao K in Chinese -- stands on Coal Hill in Beijing, a loop of rope in her hand. Will she assist her Chinese homestay mother, Li-Ming, who is dying of cancer, in ending her life, or will she choose another path? Twenty years later, Lao K receives a book written by Li-Ming called “Empire of Glass,” a narrative that chronicles the lives of Li-Ming and her husband, Wang, in pre and post-revolutionary China over the last half of the twentieth century. Lao K begins translating the story, which becomes the novel we are reading. But, as translator, how can Lao K separate fact from fiction, and what will her role be in the book’s final chapter? Empire of Glass is an investigation into the workings of human memory and the veracity of oral history that pushes the boundaries of language and form in stunning and unforgettable ways. RSVP: literaryshanghai@gmail.com. 100rmb, includes a drink.

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