The Wanderer

Name: The Wanderer
ISBN: 9787521222159

马亿Writers Publishing House · ChinaApr 2026

3.5

Word count: 165K words
Chapters: 35
ISBN: 9787521222159

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Summary

This book is a collection of novellas and short stories by young writer Ma Yi, including twelve works: "The Wanderer," "Urbanites," "The View from the 21st Floor," "Northern Couple," "Goldfish," "Dear Mom and Dad," "Gravity," "Father's River," "Butterfly Hairclip," "Enclave," "Will," and "Apology." Like twelve street photographs of young people adrift in the city, these twelve stories together form a composite portrait reflecting the spiritual condition of contemporary youth.

Editor's review

Ma Yi's The Wanderer assembles twelve novellas and short stories into a spiritual group portrait of contemporary urban youth. These stories are in no hurry to offer answers; like street photography, they capture their characters' hesitation and pauses amid work, rented apartments, intimate relationships, and family. Pieces such as "Urbanites," "The View from the 21st Floor," and "Northern Couple" focus on alienation within urban space, while "Dear Mom and Dad" and "Father's River" turn their gaze back to generational relationships and memories of home. The author's touch is restrained and the details are solid, skillfully drawing out young people's state of "present yet with nowhere to belong" from the crevices of everyday life. Suitable as a sample of contemporary youth writing, and also for reading piece by piece on a commute or before bed—each story stands alone, yet together they reveal the echoes of a group portrait.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in the spiritual state of contemporary youth
Readers who enjoy novellas and short stories and are used to fragmented reading
Literature enthusiasts interested in urban themes and young writers
Those who want to see how a new generation of writers handles everyday experience

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced stories
Those expecting a complete full-length narrative with a clear ending

Reading tips

Read in table-of-contents order, or start with the piece closest to your own situation.
Pause after each story and note the echoes between the characters' circumstances.
Read one or two pieces per commute or before bed, to avoid blurring impressions from reading it all at once.

About the publisher

Writers Publishing House China · Founded in 1953

Writers Publishing House is a Chinese publisher focused mainly on literary publishing. Its output covers classical literature, foreign literature, folk literature and Eastern philosophy, with some extension into popular reading such as social fiction and parenting books. Its catalogue contains more than 900 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber and its edited editions, Shakespeare's Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and foreign literary classics such as The Brothers Karamazov and Lost Illusions. In terms of authors, it includes classical writers such as Cao Xueqin and Gao E, foreign masters such as William Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and Balzac, and translations by translators such as Zhu Shenghao, Geng Jizhi and Fu Lei. Overall, its publishing profile balances Chinese and foreign literary classics, emphasizes quality translations, and serves both academic and general readers; publicly available information on its specific publishing plans is limited.

版权信息
作者简介
总序
序马亿作品谈
游荡者
第一章失踪
第二章日记
第三章室友
第四章非虚构
第五章民宿
第六章写作
第七章度假村
第八章处女作
第九章初恋
第十章跟踪
第十一章初中
第十二章分类
第十三章失控
第十四章高中
第十五章请客
第十六章电话
第十七章城市研究
第十八章案件
第十九章展览
都市人
21楼的风景
北方情侣
金鱼
亲爱的爸爸妈妈
引力
父亲的河流
蝴蝶发卡
飞地
遗嘱
道歉

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a short story collection?

It is a collection of novellas and short stories, containing twelve works including "The Wanderer," "Urbanites," and "The View from the 21st Floor." Each piece stands alone, but together they revolve around the drifting feeling of urban youth and can be seen as a group portrait.

I haven't read any of Ma Yi's work. Can I start with this book?

Yes. It is a collection of novellas and short stories, each independent, requiring no prior background. It is suggested to read "The Wanderer," the title piece, first, then choose other pieces according to interest.

Is it suitable to read all at once?

Not really recommended. The twelve pieces share similar themes, and continuous reading can easily cause emotional fatigue. Reading in installments makes it easier to appreciate each piece's details and character differences.

Comments

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About the author

马亿 Author

Ma Yi is an author for whom limited public information is available; his nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and writing career cannot be verified at present. Only one work by him is included in the collection, the social novel The Wanderer. This representative work suggests that Ma Yi tends to approach social reality and to focus on the circumstances and inner lives of individuals within complex environments. The title The Wanderer itself carries a clear sense of drifting and observation, hinting that the narrative may center on marginal figures, urban life, or human alienation. Because the existing materials are insufficient, his broader creative trajectory, other works, and literary influence cannot be further confirmed; only a preliminary outline of his visible thematic orientation and stylistic features is possible. Readers seeking to understand Ma Yi may begin with The Wanderer and supplement it with future public information.