Huang Fan, translator John Balcom informs us, is "a literary phenomenon" and "a bright star among Taiwan's so-called new generation of writers." He was, according to Balcom, "such a prolific author during the 1980s that the decade is often referred to as the Age of Huang Fan."
It goes without saying that a literary star whose light shines brightest in Taiwan will be all but unknown to Anglophone readers due both to the paucity of translations and to the general lack of interest in literary solar systems distant from our own. Thus Balcom's high estimation of Huang's place in the Taiwanese literary firmament will be, for many of us, the first sighting we have of this Taiwanese supernova.
Though Balcom certainly hopes that his explanation of Huang's stature will draw readers in, it is just as likely to repel readers not normally attracted to literary superstars who crank out text at so prodigious a pace. If it does repel such readers that would be a shame, because the novella and three short stories that constitute this collection indicate that Huang has managed to avoid the trap into which popular and prolific authors often fall: repeating themselves.