Q & A with Zhang Lijia, author of 'Lotus'

An online Q & A with Zhang Lijia, author of 'Lotus' a novel set in Shenzhen in the year 2000. Here is some praise for the novel:

"Lotus is a rollicking, sexy novel, but it's not just another fun read. The novel provides so much insight into the underside of China's roaring economy and the immense pressure on young migrants to get rich quick. In Lijia Zhang's tour of the sex industry, you'll find not only sleaze, but soul."
--Barbara Demick, author of the National Book Award finalist Nothing to Envy and former China bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times.

"'A Newborn Calf Isn't Afraid of Tigers' is a typical chapter title in Lotus, Lijia Zhang's compelling debut novel. Readers will find the entire text rich in Chinese proverbs, as well as folk wisdom of a more prosaic variety. Characters employ sage sayings in spoken form, as a kind of parlor game, and the author scatters aphorisms liberally throughout the narrative, with an effect that is both charming and thought-provoking....Some first novels, especially those birthed in creative writing classes, go heavy on self-consciously poetic language ...The images Zhang gives us, in contrast, are uncomplicated, concise and touching"--NPR