Preview
  • Cinema Love

  • A Novel
  • By: Jiaming Tang
  • Narrated by: Samantha Tan
  • Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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Cinema Love

By: Jiaming Tang
Narrated by: Samantha Tan
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Publisher's summary

A Dakota Johnson x TeaTime Book Club Pick

“Exceptional, moving, and not to be missed.”—Alice Hoffman

“Gentle and fierce, heartbreaking without sacrificing its sense of humor . . . I have never read anything like it.”—Robert Jones, Jr.

A staggering, tender epic about gay men in rural China and the women who marry them.

For over thirty years, Old Second and Bao Mei have cobbled together a meager existence in New York City’s Chinatown. But unlike other couples, these two share an unusual past. In rural Fuzhou, before they emigrated, they frequented the Workers’ Cinema: a theater where gay men cruised for love.

While classic war films played, Old Second and his countrymen found intimacy in the screening rooms. In the box office, Bao Mei sold movie tickets to closeted men, guarding their secrets and finding her own happiness with the projectionist. But when Old Second’s passion for his male lover is revealed, a series of haunting events unfold, propelling these characters toward an uncertain future in America.

Spanning three timelines—post-socialist China, 1980s Chinatown, and contemporary New York—Cinema Love is an “exceptional" and "moving” (Alice Hoffman) epic about men and women who find themselves in forbidden relationships; the weight of secrets; and the way memory forever haunts the present.

©2024 Jiaming Tang (P)2024 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

"Gentle and fierce, heartbreaking without sacrificing its sense of humor, Jiaming Tang’s Cinema Love perfectly mines the difficult-to-reach space between agony and pleasure. I have never read anything like it, but my most secret parts have always longed to know the hidden truths it reveals. Guided through these shadowy and sorrowful places by Tang’s plush and vivid prose, I found myself breathless until the very end—and even then barely able to exhale. This is the unforgettable work of a patient master." —Robert Jones, Jr., author of The New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist The Prophets

“A beautifully told story about the delicate tension between love and longing, the crisis of loneliness, and the price of regret. With a wise, masterful compassion, Cinema Love announces Jiaming Tang as an essential new voice in literature. I absolutely loved this book.” —Emily Habeck, author of Shark Heart

“A testimony to the power of humanity and queer love, Cinema Love brings to life characters and places that literature is missing, and that readers will never forget.” Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country

What listeners say about Cinema Love

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An Interesting Idea

Sad to say, this book was way too long. The characters were overly described. While the story of immigrants adjusting to a new life all over-laid with issues of prejudice against gay men sounds like an interesting idea, this one drags on for over 20 years and every chapter feels like another year. No variation in tone: no humor, no fear, no anticipation etc. I just didn’t feel it.

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