A totally illuminating collection of stories centered around China's Cultural Revolution and its aftermath, which, as we learn, continues even today. Xujun Eberlein lived in China during that turmoil and now makes her home in America. This, her first story collection, is both disturbing and enthralling.

REVIEW

This collection of short stories set against a backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution is remarkable primarily for its unstinting authenticity. The reader will understand from depictions of the places and events and from the rendering of the characters and their conflicted loyalties that this is a writer who knows what she's talking about. Whether most Americans will be able to connect to the tales is another question, but for a reader who is at all familiar with or interested in modern China, the book is deeply rewarding.

The stories in the book (my favorite is "Disciple of the Masses") reveal important features of life in China during a time of great upheaval that shattered many families. But even in turbulence, young people came of age, developed attachments, and learned that what they were taught was not always right. For the reader unfamiliar with China, these tales will still resonate because the narratives ring true.

While the setting and details are credible and precise, the language of the stories is occasionally, to my ear, somewhat awkward. Paradoxically, however, this awkwardness only adds to the writer's authority, because the rhythm and vocabulary serve to underscore the collection's Chineseness. And it is that Chineseness--the transport to a time and place that is so unfamiliar to most readers--that makes Apologies Forthcoming a special book.

Reviewed by: Perpetual Folly

EXCERPT

Watch the Thrill

Early 1970s. No new movies in theaters. No real books to read. School children are bored to death. In a dusty alley, two pre-teen boys watch shadowy figures struggling in a window. A teenage neighbor of the boys emerges with a knife--he has just stabbed a older neighbor to death. As the young man runs to the police station, the two boys chase him. One of the boys fires a slingshot to foil the young man's surrender attempt.

When the teenage neighbor is sentenced to death by public execution, the boys are excited about going to watch. What will happen during the execution?

The execution will take place tomorrow, in the Da Tianwan Stadium, immediately after the public trial. It is the biggest thrill ever. All of my playmates and I plan to go watch it. And we have to get up early in order to occupy good spots in the front, so that we won't miss a thing. Pipi, and everyone, is excited. Whatever uneasiness I had is drowned by their enthusiasm. I have only seen executions in movies before. We want to see what Wang Qiang's expression is like when he's being shot. And, after that, we will have something to chat about for days, even weeks, and life will be less boring for a while.