Collected Hong Kong Stories

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  • CNY: CN¥117.68
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By David T. K. Wong

 

For an arresting mosaic of the great and complex metropolis known as Hong Kong – and an insight into what the people of the city live by and die for – a reader need look no further than the Collected Hong Kong Stories of David T. K. Wong.

Wong, a native son of this once British Crown Colony and now Special Administrative Region of China, has drawn upon his own experiences as a journalist, educator, government official and businessman to assemble a range of memorable characters for his tales. They range from barmen to labourers, from jockeys to expatriate bureaucrats, from scholars to tycoons, and each is infused with insights into the collective soul of the edgy, anomalous and perplexing place he finds himself.

These 18 stories are carefully crafted in the grand tradition of O. Henry, Maugham and Saki. Each has been individually published in a magazine or broadcast over radio in Britain, the United States, Hong Kong or elsewhere. They can be dipped into and savoured separately or feasted upon all in one go. Either way, the result can only be satisfying.

“David T. K. Wong is an exceptionally fluent writer whose compelling stories cover a wide range of themes. His talent sparkles, inveigles and mesmerizes.” – Sylvia Tankel, Editor of Short Stories International

Look inside this book
Click on the following links to read pages from Collected Hong Kong Stories. You will need a pdf reader to view these excerpts.  One  Two

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Description

For an arresting mosaic of the great and complex metropolis known as Hong Kong – and an insight into what the people of the city live by and die for – a reader need look no further than the Collected Hong Kong Stories of David T. K. Wong. A native son of this once British Crown Colony and now Special Administrative Region of China, Wong has drawn upon his own experiences as a journalist, educator, government official and businessman to assemble a range of memorable characters for his tales. They range from barmen to labourers, from jockeys to expatriate bureaucrats, from scholars to tycoons, and each is infused with insights into the collective soul of the edgy, anomalous and perplexing place he finds himself. These 18 stories are carefully crafted in the grand tradition of O. Henry, Maugham and Saki. Each has been individually published in a magazine or broadcast over radio in Britain, the United States, Hong Kong or elsewhere. They can be dipped into and savoured separately or feasted upon all in one go. Either way, the result can only be satisfying.

Media attention

“David T. K. Wong sends us on exciting journeys between East and West and challenges our perceptions of what has been gained and what could be lost in the process … An exceptional read.” – Pam Fraser Solomon, Senior Producer, Short Stories, BBC Radio 4

“While most authors build a following in their home country before venturing abroad, Hong Kong’s limited outlets for literary fiction led to local author David T. K. Wong taking his work to the US, Europe and Southeast Asia before publishing them here. Now, however, he brings us 30 years’ worth of his short stories in one book, a rich and complex portrait of Hong Kong told through the lens of its varied inhabitants, their relationships with the city and each other. … In each story, Wong slips into the skin of a different person, sharing insights into their respective worlds with us. He deftly avoids the clichés often associated with Hong Kong fiction, and through his sharp observation of human nature draws us into each plot, so that the moment we finish one story we’re looking forward to the next.” – South China Morning Post

“David T. K. Wong’s prose, spare and clean, occasionally rises to eloquence. Sometimes I found myself pausing to replay a paragraph, marvelling at how nicely he lays words down on the page. … For English readers starved for something more penetrating than tourist-snap fiction, this writer comes across as a convincing storyteller.” – Joel McCormick, Window magazine

“Wong has been hailed as a Hong Kong ‘voice’ in English. … Perhaps most impressive of all is Wong’s studied refusal to sensationalise a culture chiefly known to fiction for its flamboyant characters and settings.” – Robert McCrum, The Observer

“The author has a delightful ability to find the extraordinary in ordinary people.” – Sunday Standard

“Wong is a master storyteller and brings the reader back to Old Hong Kong, a time well before the Handover when Hong Kong culture was at its peak.” – Susan Blumberg-Kason

Additional information

Weight 400 g
Dimensions 140 × 216 mm
Pages

316

Binding

Paperback

About the author

David T. K. Wong was born in Hong Kong and has degrees in political science and journalism from Stanford. His short stories have appeared in magazines in the United States, Britain, Hong Kong and other Asian countries. Many of his stories have been broadcast by BBC Radio in Britain, RTHK in Hong Kong and other stations in Ireland, Holland and Belgium.

He is the founder of the annual David T. K. Wong Fellowship in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in the UK. He is now resident in Malaysia. His website is at http://davidtkwong.com/.