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[The Roof Rat Review.]

Yu Hua, Allan H. Barr (trans). The Seventh Day. Pantheon, 2015 (第七天, 2013). The tale of drifting ghosts, well, drifts. Yu’s flinty avant-garde heart softens once again.

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Texts and images copyright (C) 2022 Pauline Kerschen. Layout adapted from the Single A Tumblr theme by businessbullpen. The Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) has zygodactylic feet, leaving X-shaped tracks with ambiguous direction. The Pueblo and Hopi used the X symbol to mislead evil spirits. Border folklore in the early twentieth century held that a roadrunner would lead a lost traveler back to his path. In Mexico the roadrunner is known as paisano, countryman.