Chinese-American writer Yiyun Li is enjoying something of a meteoric rise these days. Earlier in the year the New Yorker featured her in its list of the 20 best writers under 40, and in September she was awarded the very rich McArthur—aka “genius”—grant (Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon are previous winners). Li has one previous novel, The Vagrants. Her first short story collection, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, won a slew of accolades, including the PEN/Hemingway and Guardian First Book awards. Read more…