Music Never Far Away (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798295681677)

Music Never Far Away is a landmark collection comprising eleven short stories and one novella, representing the essence of Sha Shi's two decades of literary work. Distinct from many other works of immigrant or bilingual literature, Sha Shi does not center his narratives around issues of identity politics or cultural displacement. Instead, he turns his lens inward to explore the universal tensions of human nature. Whether his characters are Chinese or American, male or female, their struggles and contradictions arise from the shared fabric of humanity.

In the title story, Music Never Far Away, the narrator and Zhang Yi-he share a complicated bond, part friendship, part rivalry, united by their passion for Beatles music but divided by the ways they pursue it. When the narrator misconstrues Zhang Yi-he's intentions and feels betrayed, he sets out to seek revenge, only to discover that Zhang's love for the music runs even deeper than his own. Ironically, just when they seem destined to part ways for good, a deeper emotional understanding draws them back together.

Once My Dog, Always My Dog is a playful comedy in which the narrator forms an unexpectedly deep attachment to a dog he is only meant to care for temporarily. His bond with the animal blinds him to the subtle manipulations of those around him, drawing him into an absurd but tender web of misunderstanding and affection.

The novella Heaven-Woman-Grasshopper leans more heavily into tragedy territory, though its tone still carries traces of humor. It follows the narrator and Eggplant, childhood sweethearts who grew up together in China. Their love seems fated, yet life repeatedly separates them through a series of cruel twists. Even after both immigrate to the U.S., they remain apart, he in San Francisco, she in Maine. The two grasshoppers tied to the same string yet dangling at opposite ends. When he learns that Eggplant is lost to him forever, he is shattered, resorting to crime as a desperate act of self-consolation.

This collection will move you to both laughter and tears and even the tears are laced with a bittersweet tenderness that lingers long after the final page.