Book & Film Groups

Land of Big Numbers: Linking Literature and Contemporary Issues

The New Yorker described Te-Ping Chen’s Land of Big Numbers (2021) as containing “the unadorned clarity of the very best newspaper writing and the inspired, weird, poetic inventions of fiction.” This group will read selected short stories from Land of Big Numbers to explore the lives of individuals navigating the complexities of life in contemporary China. Themes include opposing the state, examining historical memory, and the inequalities within China’s booming economy. Each story will be accompanied by non-fiction background reading to establish context.