Book

Platinum bible of the public toilet : ten queer stories

Author

Zi'en Cui

Call Number

  • FICTION CUI (CEN)

Publication Information

Durham : Duke University Press, 2024.

Physical Description

xxv, 284 pages ; 23 cm.

Summary

"Platinum Bible of the Public Toilet is the first English-language collection of short stories by Cui Zi'en, China's most famous and controversial queer filmmaker, writer, scholar, and LGBTQ rights activist. Drawing on his own experiences growing up in socialist and postsocialist China, Cui presents ten queer coming-of-age stories of young boys and men as they explore their sexuality and desires. From a surreal fairytale depicting a ragtag crew of neighborhood boys in the throes of sexual awakening to a chronicle of the gender-bending and homoerotic entanglements of university students to romantic love triangle erotica to a story that examines teacher-student love and the norms of sex and age, Cui centers queer sexuality as a core part of human experience. Richly imaginative and vividly written, Platinum Bible of the Public Toilet portrays the emergence of queer cultures in postsocialist China while foregrounding the commitments to one's erotic and passionate attractions even as they lead to cultural transgressions. This volume includes a foreword by and an interview with the author"--

Contents

  • Uncle's Elegant Life (Jiu jiu de ren jian yan huo) / translated by Lisa Rofel
  • Intrigue like Fireworks (Jian qing ru yan huo) / translated by Fran Martin
  • Some Admire Wisdom, Others Do Not (You ren zan mei cong hui, you ren ze bu) / translated by Derek Hird
  • Orphans of the Japanese Empire (Riben yi min) / translated by Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen
  • The Silent Advent of the Age of Sexual Persuasion (Yan xing shi dai qiao ran li lin) / translated by Petrus Liu
  • Men Men Men Women Women Women (Nan nan nan nü nü nü ) / translated by Yizhou Guo
  • Men Are Containers (Nan ren shi rong qi) / translated by Casey James Miller
  • Fire and Wolf Share a Fondness for Male Beauty (Laohuo he Laolang tong hao nan se) / translated by Yizhou Guo
  • Teacher Eats Biscuits Thin as Parchment (Lao shi chi bing bao ru zhi) / translated by William F. Schroeder
  • Platinum Bible of the Public Toilet (⁵Gong ce bai jin bao dian) / translated by Wenqing Kang and Cathryn Clayton
  • Interview with Cui Zi'en / Petrus Liu and Lisa Rofel
  • Works by Cui Zi'en.

Subjects