Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh [Paperback]

Mo Yan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2003

In these twelve stories, we see the astonishing range of Mo Yan's vision - which critics reviewing The Republic of Wine have compared to that of Tolstoy. The stories range from the tragic to the comic, though Mo Yan's humor is always tinged with a shade of black. They embody, too, the author's deep and abiding love of his fellow man, equaled only by his intense disdain of bureaucracy and repression. His fiction is never didactic. Satire, fantasy, the supernatural, mystery: all are present in this remarkable, and intensely enjoyable, volume.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If China has a Kafka, it may be Mo Yan. Like Kafka, Yan (The Republic of Wine; Red Sorghum) has the ability to examine his society through a variety of lenses, creating fanciful, Metamorphosis-like transformations or evoking the numbing bureaucracy and casual cruelty of modern governments. The title novella of this collection of eight tales chronicles the story of old Ding, whose 43 years of dedicated service to the Municipal Farm Equipment Factory have earned him the honorific Shifu, or master worker. Despite this praise, Ding is abruptly laid off one month before his retirement. After contemplating his options including setting himself on fire in protest Ding decides to go with a more entrepreneurial approach, converting an abandoned bus into a cottage-for-hire for lovers. As an old man getting his first taste of capitalism, he serves as a symbol for many of those facing struggles in modern China. Another entry, "Man and Beast," a leftover piece from Mo's Red Sorghum saga, evokes some of the horror of Japan's wartime treatment of China, while "The Cure" demonstrates the hatred and desperation China inflicted upon itself during the Cultural Revolution. Mo abandons the realistic mode for "Soaring," in which a new bride takes flight like a butterfly, though the violence with which she's brought back to earth proves that not every fable features a happy ending. This collection brings together stories written over the past 20 years and feels more like a random buffet than a carefully planned meal. Still, it provides a useful introduction to one of China's most important contemporary writers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Acclaimed Chinese writer Mo Yan, the author of The Republic of Wine (2000) and Red Sorghum (1993), describes a childhood of almost unimaginable deprivation under Mao in the preface to this collection of eight hard-hitting yet irresistible short stories. Hunger was so relentless, he writes, they ate coal, proof of the astonishing power of the will to live, the subject of his fable "Iron Child," in which a boy eats iron. Survival and defiance are the underlying themes of each wry, earthy, and incisive tale. In the title story, an exemplary factory worker laid off just a month before retirement figures out an ingenious way to make money by catering to the needs of illicit lovers. In "Abandoned Child," a man rescues a newborn girl who was left to die in a sunflower field, even though he knows his act of mercy will ruin his life. As shrewd as he is captivating, Mo Yan is dedicated to explicating the suffering and resilience of ordinary people and to telling a darn good story. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (July 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559706716
• ISBN-13: 978-1559706711
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,017,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kenzaburo Oe's choice for a Nobel, November 4, 2006

By 

Mr. Richard K. Weems "emperor_weems" (Fair Lawn, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh (Paperback)

The blurb from Kenzaburo Oe on the front of the book says, quite simply, "If I were to choose a Nobel Laureate it would be Mo Yan." I think the esteemed Oe would have a good case to make. This short story collection is very revealing about Mo Yan and his purpose in writing. In his introduction, Mo discusses his direction to become a writer after a life of poverty, where a shipment of coal becomes a feast for the villagers. Several of these stories may seem incomplete at first glance, but Mo's introduction brings light to the fact that he is out to reveal a basic love of humanity in his work as well as a desire for justice.

In the title story, certainly and focal point of this collection, Ding Shikou is laid off from work just one month before retirement. Silly, simple man that he is, he believes the kind words of the politicians and supervisors who give him encouraging words and even tries to see them when they've invited him to come see them at any time.

But of course, they are liars, and that is what is at the root of Mo's work--the struggle of humans against powers stronger than them. Sometimes the humans take some kind of victory, as Ding Shikou does in becoming an entrepreneur by turning a rundown bus into a retreat for lovers (by the hour), but when they are victorious in any way, a price is paid. Ding suffers loss of pride, but fortunately not his humanity and in the end cannot be as greedy and ruthless as those who put him out in the first place.

It is this kind of ideal that drives the other stories in this collection as well. "Man and Beast" and "Iron Child" are tales laced with magic about the struggles of soldiers and children to maintain their humanity in the face of unmerciful Japanese soldiers or abandonment by parents. In "Man and Beast," the narrator's grandfather learns compassion even for his enemies, while in "Iron Child," an abandoned child learns to live as an iron demon. Even is fantastical tales like "Soaring," a woman who can sprout wings is surrounded by cold traditionalists who insist upon her arranged marriage.

The humans of Mo's work are beset on all sides and sometimes cannot overcome at all, but the best stories in this collection sing of the human spirit and its endless fight.

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, January 1, 2008

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh (Paperback)

I'll start with some words I never thought I'd type. This book is worth getting for the preface alone. Come on, admit it. Some of us don't even read prefaces. But this one's brilliant.

And the book itself? Eight shorter works of fiction from one of China's finest contemporary authors. Loads of praise on the cover, all true, but I'll just grab the words "satire, fantasy, the supernatural, mystery: all are present in this remarkable, and intensely enjoyable, volume." I'll also add insightful, witty, clever, moving, and playful. I've reviewed his writing before, as well as other translations by Howard Goldblatt. The marriage of talents is perfect here. It's an extremely easy read, and one I'm certain you'll enjoy.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His Muses Were Hunger and Loneliness, March 4, 2003

By 

James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh (Hardcover)

This is a short story collection that ranges from the prosaic to the poetic. The title story ("Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh") is a delightful tale of an unemployed factory worker who gets incredibly creative and makes out like a bandit until he meets some clients that are out of this world. The Chinese director Zhang Yimou made turned this story into a film called HAPPY DAYS.

Other than the opener, my favorite stories are "Abandoned Child," which makes a strong statement about the continuing practice of female infanticide; "Love Story," about an unlikely love affair set in the countryside; the strange fantasty "Iron Child" about a possible outcome of over-industrialization; and the incredibly poetic "Man and Beast," which the author claims is a sequel to his novel RED SORGHUM (although I missed some of the references, I was enthralled).

In his preface, Mo Yan (which, by the way, is Chinese for "Don't Speak") says his muses were hunger and loneliness. In fact, the author has a unique rapport with the lives of peasants and workers, as opposed to many more intellectual writers in exile such as Gao Xingjiang. I have already read THE GARLIC BALLADS and plan to read more of this fascinating writer.