Author: Charles Yu

Third Class Superhero (short stories, 2009)

Quote :

My mother’s life up to this point has been a record of small insults, neither tragic nor inconsequential.  She lives alone.  I am her only visitor.  She has taken to watching the Lifespan Network, a twenty-four-hour continuous feed of made-for-TV movies, star vehicles driven by B-list actresses.  B minus.  The movies are XXX poignant, long stretches of aimlessness punctuated by brief interludes of emotional gratification.  Pornography for the heart.

How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe (novel, 2011)

Quote :

This is where things are today, for me, right now, here, so to speak: my mom is locked in a Polchinski 650 Hour-Long reinforced Time Loop, the midmarket offering from Planck-Wheeler Industries, a lifestyle architecture firm specializing in small scale living solutions.  It’s the sci-if version of assisted living.  My mother, the Buddhist, has chosen to spend the rest of her life trapped in an hour of her own choosing.  She gets to relive the same sixty minutes, over and over again, for as long and as many times as she likes.
She chose a Sunday night dinner, she’s living in her new home, on the second floor of a five-floor walkup.  It’s not ideal, obviously, but I guess it’s what she wants, to live in a kind of imperfect past tense, in a state of recurrence and continuation, a good hour, a family dinner we could have had, on a good day, but never actually did.  She’s in it for the long haul now, having cashed out her retirement for ten more prepaid years.  I don’t know what happens after that.

Sorry Please Thank You (short stories, 2012)

Quote :

I feel pain for money. Other people’s pain. Physical, emotional, you name it.
Pain is an illusion, I know, and so is time, I know, I know, I know. The shift manager never stops reminding us. Doesn’t help, actually. Doesn’t help when you are on your third broken leg of the day.

Quote :

I feel pain for money.  Other people’s pain. Physical, emotional, you name it.  
Pain is an illusion, I know, and so is time, I know, I know, I know.  The shift manager never stops reminding us.  Doesn’t help, actually.  Doesn’t help when you are on your third broken leg of the day.

I can't recall reading any of Charles Yu's books, but this quote sounded very familiar. I was sure I had read this story somewhere. Then it hit me me - I was thinking about the stories of Sin Eaters. Not quite the same thing, but I'm sure you can understand my  momentary confusion.


I looked up Charles Yu and noticed that he referred to himself as a "Taiwanese American", rather than "Chinese American." Interesting that he refers to himself by politics, rather than genetics. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, a bad thing, or nothing at all.

Whaddya know about sin eaters? That concept has fascinated me for a couple years now....

All I know is that is was the worst job in the village.