Born in Shanghai to a writer and an actress, Geling Yan published her first novel in China in 1985.In 1989,she left China for the United States.Since then,several of her works have been made into films and a novel and a collection of her short fiction have been translated and published in English and other languages.She has won many major Chinese literary and film awards.

Dan, an unemployed factory worker, lives with his wife Little Plum in a squalid suburb of Beijing. When he discovers that by posing as a journalist at corporate events he can eat gourmet food for free, it seems his luck has changed. But a secret he's told at a banquet leads him down a twisted path and ensnares him in a government scandal. Will Dan follow his conscience and expose the corruption before his fake identity is uncovered?

'A deeply political and masterfully executed novel that exposes the inequalities driving the world's next superpower' Daily Telegraph