Wuhan

A Documentary Novel

Liao Yiwu, Michael M. Day

$51.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Polity Press
23 May 2024

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Infectious & contagious diseases

As rumours of a strange new illness in Wuhan spread via social media in China, 25-year-old citizen reporter Kcriss decides to travel to the epicentre of the disaster to try to find out what is really going on. He sees an ad for corpse carriers at a funeral home – Male or female, 16-50 years old, unafraid of ghosts - and decides to apply. He quickly realises that the official death figures bear no relation to what is happening in the local crematoria. But the brief moment when he can tell the truth to his followers on social media is soon over: he is discovered, followed and arrested by the security police – all documented live on the internet.

In this startlingly topical documentary novel, Liao Yiwu takes us into the heart of the crisis that unfolded in Wuhan and unpicks the secrecy and cover-up that surrounded the outbreak of the public health emergency that ravaged the world. Where did the virus come from and what happened in Wuhan? Protocols are buried and new lies cement the story of the party's heroic victory - propaganda that poisons people like the virus.

By: Liao Yiwu
Translated by: Michael M. Day
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 15mm
Weight: 680g
ISBN: 9781509562992
ISBN 10: 1509562990
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 23 May 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

"To the Reader Prelude: The Intruder Chapter 1: A City Forced to Close Chapter 2: A Viral Prison of French Origin Chapter 3: Who’s Eating the Bats? Chapter 4: Li Wenliang is Gone, The Truth is Dead Chapter 5: Daily Life in Isolation Chapter 6: An Asymptomatic Spreader Chapter 7: Passing through No-man’s Land Chapter 8: On Two Sides of the Border Chapter 9: The Virus Leaves the Country Chapter 10: Scientists Against """"Conspiracy Theories"""" Chapter 11: Unrestricted Warfare Chapter 12: His Imperial Majesty Arrives Chapter 13: An Illegal Border Crosser Goes Home Chapter 14: The Republic of Disappeared People – A Hitchcock Mystery Epilogue: Wuhan Elegy Appendices How was Wuhan written? The Blank Paper Revolution History will Remember this Unprecedented Shout of Anger Poem: My Sole Weapon is Spit The Spirits of the Boundless Departed have Opened and Closed this Book: Thanks to the friends who participated in creating it"

Liao Yiwu is a Chinese writer living in Berlin.