A lightly surreal story of misfortune, menace, and high-end stereo equipment in the cutthroat, capitalistic world of modern China.
An NYRB Classics Original
The hero of The Invisibility Cloak lives in contemporary Beijingโwhere everyone is doing their best to hustle up the ladder of success while shouldering an ever-growing burden of consumer goodsโand heโs a loser. Well into his forties, heโs divorced (and still doting on his ex), childless, and living with his sister (her husband wants him out) in an apartment at the edge of town with a crack in the wall the wind from the north blows through while he gets by, just, by making customized old-fashioned amplifiers for the occasional rich audio-obsessive. He has contempt for his clients and contempt for himself. The only things he really likes are Beethoven and vintage speakers. Then an old friend tips him off about a special jobโa little risky but just donโt ask too many questionsโand can it really be that this hopeless loser wins?
This provocative and seriously funny exercise in the social fantastic by the brilliantly original Ge Fei, one of Chinaโs finest living writers, is among the most original works of fiction to come out of China in recent years. It is sure to appeal to readers of Haruki Murakami and other fabulists of contemporary irreality.