China Dog
and Other Stories
by Judy Fong Bates
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See also
judyfongbates.com
148 pages paperback
Finished books available
RIGHTS SOLD
US: Counterpoint Press, Fall 2002
Canada: McClelland & Stewart, Fall 2005
China: Jinan University Press
ABOUT JUDY FONG BATES
Judy Fong Bates came to Canada from China at age five and grew up above Chinese laundries in several small Ontario towns. Her stories have been broadcast on CBC radio and published in several magazines. Her first book was the collection China Dog and Other Stories. Her first novel, Midnight at the Dragon Café, was an Everybody Reads selection for the city of Portland, Oregon. Both books were released to critical acclaim in the USA and Canada. Judy lives with her husband in Ontario.
VIVID, RICHLY TEXTURED, WRYLY FUNNY — A COLLECTION OF LINKED STORIES ABOUT A HOST OF CHINESE IMMIGRANTS FROM THE TURN OF THE CENTURY TO THE PRESENT
A Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, Fall 2002
As seen in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2002
A chorus of immigrant voices populates Judy Fong Bates’s graceful and poignant first collection. Denizens of the ubiquitous small towns around Ontario, as far from their native land as can be imagined yet united by their proximity to the local Chinese laundry, her characters have in common their driving desire to assimilate, to fit in, to belong to a “majority” culture. But they are also people trapped by a certain cultural pride in confronting a world that may feign acceptance while at the same time reminding them that they are the “other”.
PRAISE FOR CHINA DOG AND OTHER STORIES
“[Bates] is able to capture the reader with poignant details of physical surroundings ... and conversational styles, making these stories vivid and memorable.... Bates’ stories will have wide appeal to American readers and will inspire Chinese immigrants, old and new, as well as their children.... The book will also transcend cultural barriers, striking a common chord with people of other ethnic groups who have followed similar routes to this new country we call home.” — CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“An exemplary collection. As in Margaret Laurence’s superb collection A Bird in the House, Bates’s deceptively simple narratives expose the hopes and hardships that define her characters’ lives.” — THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“That a writer of Judy Fong Bates’ compassionate talent will add her voice to be heard, and will tell her stories with such insight and frankness, will add to our perceptions of what it is to be human. These stories bear the telling, for they remind us that we are, each of us, the Other.” — WAYSON CHOY, author of All That Matters and The Jade Peony