The April 3rd Incident
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The April 3rd Incident is a collection of short stories by Yu Hua, who wrote the stories from 1987 to 1991. The English translation, by Allan H. Barr, was published in 2018 by Pantheon.[1] Barr teaches Chinese at Pomona College.[2]
The stories included are experimental, and Publishers Weekly characterizes the shorter ones as having "devastating wit and morbid humor".[3] Kirkus Reviews described them as "very post-punk and confrontational".[1] Barr stated that Borges, Faulkner, and Kafka had influenced Yu Hua's writing.[1]
The stories allude to an incident that is never clearly defined, not even in the chapter that shares its name with the collection's title; April 3 happens to be the birthday of Yu Hua.[4] The stories include elements of conspiracies, double-crossing, and characters revealing their true natures. Publishers Weekly compares the stories to those of Italo Calvino.[3]