I Love Bill and Other Stories showcases the work of Wang Anyi, one of China's most prolific and highly regarded writers, in two novellas and three short stories. A young artist's life spirals out of control when she drops out of school to pursue a series of unfulfilling relationships with foreign men. A performance troupe struggles to adapt to a changing China at the end of the Cultural Revolution. The head of an isolated village arranges a youth's posthumous marriage to an unknown soldier, only to have the soldier's former lover unexpectedly turn up. A fun trip takes an unexpected turn when two young women are kidnapped and sold off as brides. A boy's bout with typhoid provides an intimate look at family life in Shanghai's longtang alleys. In this thoughtful translation by Todd Foley, I Love Bill and Other Stories offers poignant and nuanced portrayals of life during China's economic and cultural transition at the turn of the millennium.
