Michael X. Wang Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Michael X. Wang is a successful published author.

He was born in Fenyang, a small city in the Shanxi Province of China known for coal-mining in this mountainous area. When he was six years old, he immigrated to the United States with his family. He has since lived in fifteen different cities and a total of ten different states.

He attended Florida State University, where he graduated with a PhD in literature. He would then go on to attend Purdue and obtain his MFA in fiction.

He has written a short story collection titled Further News of Defeat, which was earned him the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize as well as the New Writer Award from the Great Lakes Colleges Association. It was a finalist for the CLMP Firecracker Award.

Michael X. Wang has written short fiction that has been featured in publications such as Witness, Greensboro Review, the New England Review, and Juked, as well as others. They have won him an AWP Intro Award and have been picked as a notable story of the year by the Best American Anthology.

Wang is also the author of the 2022 novel Lost in the Long March. The book was released through The Overlook Press. He continues to work on different novel projects and will have new work to look forward to for fans and readers who love his work!

Michael X. Wang resides in Arkansas today along with his family. He teaches students as an assistant professor in the MFA program at the University of Mississippi.

Lost in the Long March is a 2022 novel by Michael X. Wang. If you have been looking for something new and original to read, check this story out!

The year is 1934, and the place is China. Ping is a shy gunsmith and a naive orphan. He’s fallen in love with Yong, who happens to be a skilled marksman, a veteran, sophisticated person, and truly believes in the Marxist ideology.

Ping wants more than anything to win her over, but being able to secure her affections is going to require an ideological battle, which is something he doesn’t not entirely understand. Making the situation even more complicated is the fact that Yong has shown interest in Luo, his best friend.

Before a great Communist defeat, Ping goes out of his way to purposely mess with Luo’s rifle. The intentional sabotage causes the bullet to backfire and go into the back of his friend’s head. The army sets out on its year long retreat, called The Long March, and Yong is upset about the incident. She turns to Ping to lean on for comfort and to be a companion.

Ping is very upset and regrets that he took actions that killed his closest friend. As his relationship grows with Yong, he also becomes steadfastly aware that no matter what it is always going to be tainted by the guilt that he carries over being responsible for Luo’s passing.

It is not too long before Yong becomes pregnant. She does not like the way that the baby inside of her is changing so many things, on an emotional and a physical level. Soon it is time for her to give birth, but the Red Army is not able to accommodate a crying baby as part of their retreat, and have need of finding someone close to them that can take the baby and care for it for them.

Ping and Yong make the difficult choice to leave their son behind with the woman and say that they are going to come back once the war is won and everything is over. Then World War II happens and the Japanese soldiers come along. Their son, twelve years old, decides to join up with the Japanese army so that he can find his parents, and starts to quickly fear for his life.

Well written and moving, this novel is a dive into the history of a country and how it remains with their people even though their stories are frequently the first ones lost. Grab a copy of this book and follow along with this compelling story from start to finish!

Further News of Defeat is a collection of short stories by Michael X. Wang. If you really enjoy collections of short stories and are looking forward to something new to read, check this book out.

This book brings together political and personal events that are set up against the backdrop of China. They are both imagined and perceived, real and speculative. Readers go into fictional Chinese villages such as Xinchun while going into various themes of family, tradition, immigration, and more in a country which is still dealing with its modern identity.

Rife in a history of suffering, violence, and more, readers of this collection will meet characters who have known all types of defeat and struggle, finding themselves part of the most important events of Chinese history, like World War II and the Tiananmen Square massacre, as they face losses and still look to find a reason for revival. Pick up Further News of Defeat and enjoy these engaging stories one by one in an inspired collection written by the talented Michael X. Wang.