Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to read this book for a few reasons. Partly it was fun to take a trip down memory lane (icq!!!). Partly it was because I wanted to savour the stories. And in part it was because I kept stopping to look up things - events, products, people. A fun (albeit also weird at time) read.

This is a collection of short stories fixated on things in the 90s. Although this is categorized under short stories, each story is only about 2-3 pages long, giving us just little snippets into each item and their back stories. Each story features an item and what it means to us, the way we create meaning and relationship and even adding our own spin on culture into it.

This collection also showed us what Hong Kong was like back in the 90s, giving nostalgic memories to those who have lived through that era. However, there were too many stories to get through. I would have loved reading an expanded version of a few of these stories instead of just little fragments. The stories do tend to get repetitive after a while with the similar back stories and plot lines.

I would recommend reading this in small doses and not try to finish this in one go so readers can enjoy each story better. Thank you Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the arc.

This is a book to be savored and the format nicely allows for that. As a reader, I don't know all that much about Hong Kong in the 1990s so I found these vignettes to be fascinating and I needed to pause as I read them to consider what was being said and how it related to Hong Kong at that time and Hong Kong now. I imagine that anyone with any interest at all in Hong Kong would find these fascinating and if you lived through that time it would be a fun trip down memory lane. It's not for everyone, but being able to leaf through and pick and choose should widen the audience for this book. A sweet read!

This was a trip down memory lane, at least for some of the items mentioned. I haven't grown up in Asia but I've lived there for over 5 years. Many of the things mentioned, combat trousers, Snoopy, photo sticker booths would have also been a trend in other countries during the same time. A very interesting look at the same trends and how they were experienced by people in Hong Kong. I would have loved to see some ink or pencil sketches accompany each of the 99 sketches ( I just love illustrations in books).

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

A portrayal of youth culture in 90’s Hong Kong that captures both the material reality (I laughed when I saw agnès b. was the focus of the first story, because it was so real – I’ve never encountered so many agnès b. stores anywhere else) as well as the emotional volatility of adolescence.

The stories often followed a similar trajectory, revolving around some kind of boy-meets-girl premise, and the relationship that ensues mirrors the love that the girl has for the trendy item: obsessive, fleeting, and ultimately pretty superficial.

The stories are all very, very short, and that was what let it down for me (although this might have been the point) – it just ended before I could really connect or understand any of the characters, and left me feeling unmoored.

Taken individually these stories (or sketches) are cheeky, interesting looks at the not-so-distant past, and give a good sense of what Hong Kong was like in the 90's. Taken as a collection, however, these stories get repetitious fast. For the majority of them the set-up is almost exactly the same: there's a girl, she's into a certain product, the product basically becomes her personality, this attracts a boy, they date, they break up. Maybe if you read just a few stories at a time this is palatable, but if you plan to attempt, as I did, to read this book straight through this becomes so taxing these very short stories don't seem so short anymore.

Because of this I'm not sure that I'd recommend this to anyone who wasn't already specifically interested in reading about Hong Kong in the 90's. Even then, there may be stronger books out there.

This was a fun book. I felt like the translation was a little shaky at times. It’s a great time capsule of when it was first published and I hope it finds a new audience.

It took me a while to get through this book but the size of the book actually took me by surprise (as it is often the case with Netgalley ARCs): this collection comprises no less than 99 short stories (most of them very short, and very easy to read) on Hong Kong life in the late 1990s.

First published in 1999, I believe that the author’s intention was to make a impressionistic portrait of the city on 1997 or right after, which is the year Hong Kong returned into the folds of Communist China. It’s a tough book to love for people who don’t know this city (although the translator has provided much needed references at the beginning of each story) but it was a personal delight to have these memories brought back to life. Many stories inside are mini love stories, anecdotes or snapshots and refer to many iconic material purchases that were so popular in Asia in the 1990s: Hello Kitty, fashion designer brands, flip phones, Japanese tv series, etc.

Indeed, as I read this in 2022, what is glaring now is more what is not in those stories rather than what is. No mention of political and economic contexts, no mention of China or even Shenzhen north of the border. All these youthful people in the book are 100% materialistic and egocentric in their love stories and pursuits. Some stories in the book may seem rather shallow. A generation later, what a contrast! Hong Kong is no longer heavily influenced by Japanese culture, it is no longer an economic Asian tiger, and due to Covid, it’s not even a regional hub anymore. Hong Kong youth is now a lot more political, they affirm their identity (separate from mainland China) and don’t hesitate to rebel. I cannot help but wonder how the blissfully ignorant naivety of Hello Kitty lovers has given way to a generation of increasingly desperate young people who choose emigration if they are able to.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for review consideration.

Dung Kai-cheung has created a 90s Hong Kong miniverse with this book. First published in 1999, it has no less than 99 tales which the author prefers to call sketches, which I think is the most suitable description. Short as they are, the sketches offer a kaleidoscope of characters and storylines, and the book can easily be used as a guide for creating characters aimed at aspiring writers. ⁠
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The stories were published shortly after the handover of the former British colony to China and the spirit of recent independence–the exhilaration–can be felt even if nothing of the kind is ever mentioned. Kai-cheung offers a playful peek into the consumerist inclinations during the late-nineties and the overwhelming Japanese influences on the Hong Kong youths. ⁠
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Each of the stories starts from a piece of pop culture or consumerist trend, thus providing a glimpse into urban life. Some sketches focus on once world-trendy items such as Hello Kitty, a Windows 98 disk, Air Jordans, cargo shorts; others are more locally specific, invoking a popular band or TV show etc. The protagonists, primarily young women, are somehow shot with an obsession for the object or trend. The relationships they get involved with are often short-lived, just as consumerist trends tend to be. The situations are often fantastical and tragicomical. Dung seems to be critiquing the way we define ourselves through products, objects and trends, something that has taken a brand new dimension in the world nowadays. The feeling I was left with at the end of each piece, even when utterly comical, was one of void and alienation. And I think this was Dung's goal: to evoke feelings of emptiness by drawing attention to the pointlessness of searching for ourselves in tangible things. Which is exactly what 21st century consumerism is all about. ⁠
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⁠I read this with utter relish.
Thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy.

I’m really enjoying short story collections where you can pick up and stop as you go. It reminds me a little of People From My Neighbourhood and it’s bizarre characters.

We basically see a mere glimpse (a couple of pages) of people living in 90s Hong Kong as they go about their lives. Some stories are more memorable than others but that’s okay.

There’s a lot of Japanese pop culture references that went over my head, but luckily they’re explained in the head notes. A good one to read when you don’t want to focus too much or follow a plot.

I really enjoyed how each short story was like a glimpse into both aspects if life in 90s Hong Kong and quirks of the character we're following. It was a book with a voice that very much acts to give snapshots of life and people. I did enjoy it quite a bit!

A catalog of such stuff As dreams are made on, this is my first time reading an Asian author from China. The book read like essays, shedding light on a part, trait, habit of the character. It makes for great travel reading.

A charming collection of quickly realized little worlds that are often surreal. There's a lot of popular culture references that are thankfully explained in the headnotes which does offer unusually clear insights into 90s Hong Kong culture.

A collection of vignettes that provide, through a nostalgic lense, a glimpse into '90s culture and especially into the way it influenced Hong Kong and its youth.

For a reminder or socioanthropological read on HK culture in the late 90s, this book of sketches lets you in on all the pop culture of that time as experienced in the many stories of HK youth in the book. Did you know how much HK was influenced by Japan in terms of movies at the time?

At the same time as it is a reminder of life as it was, it also brings about some nostalgia for those who have visited or followed the HK culture of that time. Yet, there is no deeper insights and at times the stories, while different, blend in with each other, hence only the 3 stars.

Honestly the pop culture references went a bit over my head, but this is the book someone else needs to read. Representation!