Fictional truth to power

The former secretary of an official executed for corruption has won acclaim with his novels about the dark side of politics. Mei Jia reports.

Best-selling author Wang Xiaofang, who's known for his Beijing Office Director series, has been writing about Chinese bureaucracy for 12 years since he left the position as secretary to the deputy mayor of Liaoning's provincial capital Shenyang - who was later executed for corruption. Wang, who still lives in Shenyang, recently released the first English translation of his novel, The Civil Servant's Notebook.

The publisher, Penguin, promotes the book as "a satirical absurdist blend in the spirit of Andrey Kurkov" and a work created by a "former insider".