Year of the Goose / December 2015 / Unnamed Press
Order on Amazon / Barnes & Noble / IndieBound
“It is hard for fiction to match the craziness, energy, contradiction, and exciting implausibility of modern China. Year of the Goose does that and more, with a plot and characters more excitingly implausible than the real-world originals and also much more entertaining. This is an absurdist comedy with some sharp and serious social observations.” —James Fallows, The Atlantic; author of China Airborne and Postcards from Tomorrow Square
“Year of the Goose is a completely fresh and original comic novel overflowing with mayhem, sly and mordant humor, blood-thirsty slapstick, corporate malfeasance, hair extensions, Watermelon Wigglers, an enlightened turtle and a malevolent goose. It is an unhinged and utter delight.” — Mark Haskell Smith, author of Raw: A Love Story and Naked at Lunch
“A sharp and funny debut book about China’s tycoon culture, brimming with wild life; fans of Mo Yan will see his spark in Hallman’s fire.” — Amelia Gray, author of Gutshot and THREATS
“Year of the Goose is outrageous, deranged, and hilarious–a rollicking send up of late Chinese capitalism, it’s also, like all great satire, deeply felt and disturbing. Somewhere, between all the laughing and the whimsy, between the vicious goose and the wise turtle, I kept catching glimpses of the hidden horrors, the consequences of our runaway appetites, our steely obsessions. ” —Peter Mountford, author of The Dismal Science and A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism
“In the vein of Kevin Kwan, debut novelist Carly Hallman presents a version of the East—in this case, contemporary China—that makes the West seem like a mere Barbie set. How can selfies and former Disney child stars compare to a government-sanctioned Fat Camp turned death camp? Decadent, daring, and devious, Year of the Goose explores elitist drama through the eyes of an heiress with anger issues, an eccentric organic hair farmer, and (but of course) a talking turtle with the soul of a monk.” –Annalia Linnan, Bookseller, Brazos Bookstore
“If you like books about deadly fat camps, psychopathic heiresses, hair extensions, Tibetan monks reincarnated as talking turtles, and carb-heavy snack foods, this might be the book for you!” — Carly J. Hallman, author of Year of the Goose
I wrote this guest post about writing a novel in Beijing for my friend’s blog.
Carly J. Hallman 
