Year of the Goose

Hallman's debut novel is a scathing satire of tycoon culture and political corruption, set in present-day China. Kelly Hui, daughter of the famed Bashful Goose Snack Company tycoon known to all as Papa Hui, seeks to prove her worth by investing in a government-sanctioned fat camp. However, a series of slapstick events turn the fat camp into a gruesome death camp, setting off a chain reaction leading to the murder of Papa Hui. The scope of the story broadens as others get mixed up in the chaos, including Wang Xilai, a young hair tycoon, and Lulu Qi, a girl he farms for extensions. Wang recounts his heyday as a teenage entrepreneur who looked up to Papa Hui and founded his very own hair extension farm, Headquarters. Then, in the most intriguing section, Lulu describes her life after leaving Headquarters, emerging as the most (and perhaps the only) sympathetic character in this over-the-top tale. As the body count rises, morbid humor abounds%E2%80%94of particular note are the newspaper headlines that close out the chapters%E2%80%94but the story never quite gets beyond shock value to something deeper. (Dec.)