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Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Praise

Extra

After a Life

Immortality

The Princess of Nebraska

Love in the Marketplace

Son

The Arrangement

Death Is Not a Bad Joke If Told the Right Way

Persimmons

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

Acknowledgments

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: A Reader’s Guide

A Conversation with Yiyun Li

Questions and Topics for Discussion

About the Author

Copyright Page

For Dapeng

Praise for A THOUSAND YEARS OF GOOD PRAYERS

“A subtle and original perspective on the latest chapter in China’s turbulent history . . . Li is a valuable firsthand guide to this decade of mind-bending change. . . . [She] shows a light touch that, combined with her gift for characterization, saves her stories from turning into consciousness-raising exercises. . . . Poignant. ” —The New York Times Book Review

“Thoughtful, deceptively quiet, and always surprising, these seamless stories remind us that regardless of the society we inhabit, the most basic human emotions . . . transcend history and geography, and are universal, timeless, and endlessly mysterious. ” —O: The Oprah Magazine

“The stories in A Thousand Years of Good Prayers are both contemporary and universal, telling of love, death, and the joys and burdens of family against the backdrop of China’s sudden modernity. . . . What’s clear from this volume is that the delineations of [Li’s] talent have only begun to come into view. ” —Elle

“Yiyun Li is a true storyteller. Great stories offer us the details of life on the riverbanks: birth, family, dinner and love, all framing the powerful flow of terror, death, political change, the river itself. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is as grand an epic and as tenderly private as a reader could wish.

“An extraordinary feat of intelligence and style. Li writes as though English were her native tongue. Her prose is wonderfully complex, emotive and smart. . . . Her sentences not only move some fine stories along, they also dramatize a serious understanding of contemporary life and a deeply felt response to the rigors and vagaries of drinking from modernity’s sometimes bitter cup. ” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A remarkable debut . . . It’s one of those rare short story collections where you find yourself reading one perfectly realized gem after the next. . . . Each of these stories takes you to a different place, and each feels fresh, wise and alive, creating a fascinating, horrifying and heartbreaking picture of life in a country where the past never goes away. ” —The Washington Post Book World

“Absorbing . . . expertly plumb[s] lives silenced by disappointment, where release can come in unexpected forms and as suddenly as a long-forgotten memory. ” —Entertainment Weekly

“This extraordinary collection reminds you just how big a short story can be. With wit, ruthlessness, and an understanding of human nature—its grand follies, private sorrows, and petty dreams— A Thousand Years of Good Prayers may remind you of Flannery O’Connor, though Li is an original. Read this book and marvel at a writer both at the height of her powers and at the start of a brilliant career. ” —ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN, author of The Giant’s House