The word on the street

Air Cannon comprises eight short stories, in which Wang shines a spotlight on marginalized people living in old communities similar to where she grew up. The so-called "Street Hero Series", which she has spent the past four years creating, are narrated from the perspective of a child.

The community that provides the centerpiece of the story was typical of those in small and middle-tier cities in the 1980s and 1990s. After decades of high-speed development, however, like its real-life counterparts, it has become an old community, mostly populated by retired, laid-off or immigrant workers - aging people and people with low incomes.

By depicting their daily life - the trivial incidents and gossip which are deeply connected with their living, aging, health and death - Wang allows the reader a taste of the mixed flavors in the life of the "little people".

The "street heroes" are not successful people, nor heroes in the common sense, but they are the uncles in the neighborhood who play mahjong all day long, aunts who dance regularly in the community's square, vegetable vendors, the owners of dumpling shops and firecracker shops, security guards - the people who give a community its life

"Hero means a kind of vitality. If uncles and aunts call each other bro, sis or comrades, for a child in an old community, all the adults are tall and speak sonorously, so they might be called 'hero' as well," says Wang.

Life is not easy for them, but Wang's writing is not heavy. Rather, they are decent interesting people who have their own philosophy for life.