The Magic Whip
By (Author) Wang Ping
Coffee House Press
Coffee House Press
7th January 2004
United States
General
Non Fiction
811.54
Commended for Minnesota Book Award (Poetry) 2004
Paperback
90
Width 177mm, Height 254mm, Spine 7mm
212g
Expect print media features and radio interviews: Wang Ping received a great deal of attention and gave many interviews for her nonfiction book Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China. These poems expand upon those themes and we expect it will recieve similar attention. Wang Ping's poem inspired by a Chinese ritual to call home the souls of the dead was printed on the front page of the 9/11/02 Minneapolis Star Tribune's Variety section, commemorating the lives of those lost on September 11, 2001.
"Wang Ping's "The Magic Whip is riddled with surprises that bite and soothe. Though populated with Chinese myths and talismans, the tonal muscle and unique imagery of this rewarding collection tug us away from the stereotypical. There's something wise and original in these poems wrung from need."--Yusef Komunyakaa
Wang Ping was born in Shanghai and grew up on a small island in the East China Sea. After three years spent farming in a mountain village commune, she attended Beijing University. In 1985 she left China to study in the United States, earning her PhD from New York University. She is the acclaimed author of the short story collection American Visa, the novel Foreign Devil, two poetry collections: Of Flesh & Spirit and The Magic Whip, and the cultural study Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China.