ReadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2025

The Last Communist Virgin

Wang Ping author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Coffee House Press

Published:17th May '07

Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date

The Last Communist Virgin cover

From the restaurants of New York’s Chinatown to the retail emporium of Bergdorf Goodman, and from remote Chinese military outposts to the streets of Beijing, these stories open a window into the rapid transformations of an ancient culture. As the characters struggle to find their way, a young girl discovers love amidst a sea of angry Red Guards, émigrés navigate New York’s relentless rat race, and an old man returns to a Beijing he doesn’t recognize on a mission to restore his son-in-law’s flagging honor. In the heartrending finale, the origins of humanity and its reckless dash toward an apocalyptic future are distilled into a love story with far-reaching implications.

Praise for The Last Communist Virgin

“Wang Ping is a fearless, phenomenal writer.” —Louise Erdrich

“Wang Ping’s The Last Communist Virgin is a beauty of a collection. She has interwoven the earthiness of China and the harshness of immigrant life . . . to create a series of short stories that are at once pitiful, heartbreaking, funny, and deeply inspiring.” —Lisa See

  • Winner of Minnesota Book Award (Novel) 2008

ISBN: 9781566891950

Dimensions: 190mm x 127mm x 12mm

Weight: 226g

218 pages