These twelve short stories vividly bring to life the daily dramas of Chinese men and women who are starting to feel the influence of the West while still immersed in a society that attempts to control their every move and thought. As his characters wrestle with the petty injustices and deeper heartbreaks of their constricted lives, Ha Jin celebrates their irrepressible humanity with the understated humour and disarmingly simple narrative voice that have won him widespread acclaim....