Delmo's gift

Author: Song Mingwei
Publisher: Shanghai Bookstore Press
Book Introduction:
This collection of essays was written by Song Mingwei, Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Hawai'i, during his time as a graduate student at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University from 2000 to 2005. It is divided into four parts: "Characters and Thoughts," "Impressions and Miscellany," "Sketches of New York," and "Film Notes," and includes the author's book reviews, film reviews, art reviews, commentary on current affairs, and political critiques. The book is imbued with a strong academic and cultural atmosphere, engaging and thought-provoking without being dry. The author introduces contemporary American writers such as Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Saul Bellow, Paul Tracy, and Pedro Almodóvar, as well as their works, depicts the bizarre and dazzling landscape of New York City, and authentically records American society at the time of "9/11," along with public reactions and reflections.
Author Introduction: Song Mingwei was born in Jinan in 1972. He studied at Shandong University, Fudan University, and Columbia University, earning a doctorate from Columbia's Department of East Asian Studies. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Hawai'i and a postdoctoral fellow at the John K. Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies at Harvard University. His main research areas include modern Chinese literature, comparative literature, novel theory, and film theory and criticism. He has written "The Sorrow of This World: Zhang" [Note: The book title is incomplete in the original text].
Table of Contents:
Characters and Thoughts
The Gift of Doremus
Appendix: Responsibility Begins with Dreams
Critic Tracy
Appendix: Three Notes on Tracy's Reading
Humanistic Concerns of the Xia Brothers
Appendix: Interview with Mr. Xia Zhiqing
Who Does the Clock Toll For: In Memory of Edward Said
Out of Babel: Reading Encounters with Thinking and Critiquing Contemporary American Academic Culture
Exile and Return
Impressions and Miscellany
"9/11" Diary
Appendix: From Shanghai (Zhang Yeyong)
To Teacher Chen Sihua—On American University Education
The Gift of Doremus
Appendix: Responsibility Begins with Dreams
Critic Tracy
Appendix: Three Notes on Tracy's Reading
Humanistic Concerns of the Xia Brothers
Appendix: Interview with Mr. Xia Zhiqing
Who Does the Clock Toll For: In Memory of Edward Said
Out of Babel: Reading Encounters with Thinking and Critiquing Contemporary American Academic Culture
Exile and Return
"9/11" Diary
Appendix: From Shanghai (Zhang Yeyong)
To Teacher Chen Sihua—On American University Education
Sketches of New York
Manhattan Ferry
Baudelaire on 42nd Street
The "Door" in Central Park
The Subway Artist
The Maze Bookstore
Film Notes
To Her
The Hulk
City of God
The Girl Who骑d a Whales
XX/XY
The Secret River
Troy
Pride and Prejudice
Afterword