Bridge21 Contemporary Chinese Literature

This book contains six works that each reflect the different styles of the author in each period of his work, paying attention to men of low status, memories of childhood, campus life, and the living conditions of Beijing's drifters. Told in a straightforward manner, all the stories in this book are told in the first person and can be regarded together as a spiritual autobiography. Xu Zechen won the sixth Lu Xun Literature Award for short stories, and short stories have always been the focus and intention of his creation.

Nothing but the Now is a collection of seven stories, most of them about chance encounters in the world, the consequences of greed and temptation, the inescapable past, and moral dilemmas that seem to be tailored to each character's flaws and foibles. The book explores the larger and more fundamental issues of life, death, love, and desire, and further interrogates the inter-relationships between the individual, the other, and the world. Each character in the stories must struggle to understand the meaning of his or her encounters and translate them into gains in their lives if they are to truly grow and arrive at themselves.