Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City (Weatherhead Books on Asia)
Dung Kai-cheung'sAtlas: The Archeology of an Imaginary Cityis a most unusual work in the history of modern Chinese literature: part fiction, part history, part theory -- all in the service of the author's unique method of fictional 'archaeology,' an endeavor that has unearthed a wealth of materials -- streets, buildings, personalities, names and signs, and marvels and legends -- about this 'vanished' city, the traces of which constitute the sum total of Hong Kong's cultural memory. A cross between fact and fiction, history and mystery, Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino, this work defies all generic categories and now stands as a contemporary classic.(Leo Ou-fan Lee, author ofCity Between Worlds: My Hong Kong)...seamless, yet eccentric...a playful yet poignant invitation to begin layering new symbols and projections over the city's landscape.(South China Morning Post)Readers pleased by cliff-hanging, nail-biting, page-turning adventure will not be satisfied with "Atlas." Devotees of writers as curious as Borges, Calvino and Eco, will love this map of maps of an imaginary city.Japan Times(David CozyJapan Times)Well worth the experiment.(Peter GordonAsian Review of Books)