The College of Corn
Kunyang He
9781941861431
544 pages
Harvard Square Editions
Overview
A tragicomic story set in a Midwest university town, The College of Corn portrays a community of overseas Chinese students and immigrants, and
three fledging young woman scholars — one from Taiwan, one Mainlander,
and one Hong Konger — experiencing early adulthood, the reality of the
American dream, commercialized education, and romance in a troubled
country and flawed academia. Rachel, a Ph.D. student from China and the chief editor of a “notorious”
local Chinese newspaper has been using the paper as a weapon for
scathing criticism and as a channel for underdogs' grievances. She is
struggling with budget deficit and continual threats from the
authorities and her own compatriots. The story is told from the point of
view of Alex, the newspaper's graphic designer and Rachel's secret
admirer. While the newspaper is short-staffed and facing another severe
cutback, Alex meets the daughter of a Taiwanese tycoon, a stellar young
scholar, who can write and seems the solution to both the problems of
the paper and Alex's unrequited love, until events take an unexpected
turn.
Author Bio
Kunyang He is a Chinese author writing in English. He has written two independent films and one documentary featuring the new generation of
Chinese immigrants and international students in the States. He is also a
translator and an English teacher, who takes teaching very seriously. The College of Corn is his first novel.
