The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai (Li Po)

In his own time (701-762), Li Bai's brilliant poems--shaped by Daoist thought, filled with an irrepressible lust for life--were never given their proper due. Nonetheless, his lines rang out on the lips of tavern singers, soldiers, and writers throughout the Tang dynasty, and his deep desire for a higher, more perfect world gave rise to his nickname: the Banished Immortal. With the instincts of a master novelist, Ha Jin draws on a wide range of historical and literary sources to weave the great poet's life story, following Bai from his origins on the western frontier to his rambling travels as a young man. Jin also takes us through the poet's later years--in which he became swept up in a military rebellion that altered the course of China's history--and the mysterious circumstances of his death.

Today, Bai's verses remain an inextricable part of the Chinese language--taught to schoolchildren, recited at parties and toasts--and are famed throughout the world. The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it, and whose ability to live, love, drink, dance, and mourn without reservation produced some of the world's most enduring verses.

Author: Ha Jin
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 12/03/2019
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9780525562436
ISBN10: 0525562435
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures
- Literary Criticism | Poetry
- History | Asia | China

About the Author
Ha Jin left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of eight novels, four story collections, four volumes of poetry, and a book of essays. He has received the National Book Award, two PEN/Faulkner Awards, the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. In 2014 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in the Boston area and is a professor at the creative writing program at Boston University.