Rouge Street by Shuang Xuetao, Read by Brian Nishii

Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens.

Brian Nishii gives Shuan Xuetao’s three novellas a vivid, unforgettable performance. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss how these stories give insights to life in Shenyang, China, written in spare revelatory prose. Nishii illuminates the harsh existences of the characters but there’s wit and whimsy, too. Shuang Xuetao is among China’s most honored young writers; Rouge Street is his first work to be translated into English.

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