HOLLOW BAMBOO

A fresh and original debut, Hollow Bamboo is the hilarious and heartbreaking story of two William Pings in Newfoundland—the lost millennial and the grandfather he knows nothing about— drawing on elements of magical realism, autofiction, satire, and deep historical research

William Ping's life revolves around eating at restaurants, posting online about eating at restaurants, then overanalyzing it. This changes unexpectedly when a dinner with his Chinese girlfriend's family goes sideways and his insecurity about his biracial identity and ignorance of his own Chinese heritage overflow like lava. During a much-needed break from the dinner table, Will is visited in the men's room by a sarcastic, bullying spirit named Mo. The spirit whisks him into the past to learn about the life of his grandfather, the first William Ping, who emigrated from China to Newfoundland in 1931 to work in a laundry
For readers of Kevin Kwan's Sex and Vanity and Vincent Lam's The Headmaster's Wager, Hollow Bamboo is a speculative biography offering a unique look at the integration and disintegration of Chinese culture in the life of the two William Pings