"Xue Yiwei is a maverick in contemporary Chinese literature. He stays alone and aloof, far away from restive crowds back in his homeland. For him, to write is to make a pilgrimage to his masters: Joyce, Borges, Calvino, Proust. He writes with deep devotion and intense concentration. His fiction often meditates on life, history, violence, exile. This selection of stories can open a window into the fiction world he has constructed. As an admirer of his, I salute his courage, stamina, and his love of solitude." Ha Jin, winner of the National Book Award This volume features five stories--God's Chosen Photographer, "The True Story of a Family," "Winning the First Battle," "A Turning Point in History, and "The Veteran" with commentarires from Xiao Liu, Fraser Sutherland, Craig Hulst, Caroline A. Brown, Stephen Nashef, and Amy Hawkins.