„Hall Gardner has given us a timely and compelling narrative of two civilizations as the world witnesses rising Chinese power. A magnificent achievement.“ —Matthew Fraser, author of In Truth: A History of Lies from Ancient Rome to Modern America
How much do we know about China? … Gardner's book is a balance between an encyclopedia and a novel ... A big country demands a big book. —E. Ethelbert Miller (on the prequel to this book)); Writer and literary activist, Host of On The Margin (WPFW 89.3 FM), Winner Howard Zinn Life Achievement Award 2022
A satire of truly global-scale, Hall Gardner’s Year of the Horseshoe Bat-In Exile or the Legend of JV channels the authors immense creative and narrative gifts in the service of the seemingly impossible: To help us comprehend what is unfolding before our very eyes…As Orwell famously observed, ‘To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle’—Hall Gardner’s new book assists immensely in just that struggle.
—James W. Carden, contributing editor, The American Conservative
Chia Pao-yu is alive and well! The Beijing University pro-democracy activist is living in exile under an assumed name, Jean Valjaur (JV). As was rumored in the prequel, Year of the Earth Serpent Changing Colors, Chia was not executed for helping to organize the April-June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Now in Paris, he witnesses the Bataclan terrorist attacks, the Yellow Vest protests, and survives the COVID-19 (or Horseshoe Bat) pandemic—after having survived the AIDS pandemic in China in the 1980s. He pursues his self-study of Asian influence on Pop artists and Beat poets. He likewise critiques the views of western “Maoists,” like Mylex H. Galvin—whom Chia depicts as a “Wokeist” before his time. During the pandemic lockdown, Chia reflects on the reasons why he became a pro-democracy, pro-environment and anti-nuclear dissident. In Paris, Chia finds work with the Foundation for Human Values Forever (HVF), directed by the charismatic feminist Bereft LaPlante. He meets dissidents like himself who have suffered for their political views and gender. Now a French citizen, Chia participates in Hong Kong protests, and takes part in a conference on the “Future of China” in Washington, D. C. There, he witnesses President Trump’s threat to call in U. S. „G. I. Joes“ to repress protests in June 2020—a threat that recalls the June 1989 Tiananmen Square repression by the People’s Liberation Army. Back in Paris, he accidentally learns that the HVF Foundation finances questionable activities not related to humanitarian causes—and quits after a drunken LaPlante, accused of anti-Semitism, attempts to seduce him. He then starts to work for the secretive Society for the Exploration of Cosmic Consciousness (SECC) that publishes a version of his “Planetary Manifesto” that is redacted by Artificial Intelligence. His warning now appears lost in the babble of Social Media: If the U. S. Balding Eagle, the Chinese Red Dragon, and the Russian Double-Headed Eagle cannot soon resolve their differences, then the popular hopes of “Barbies” and “Kens” for global peace will soon be crushed by the boots of „G. I. Joe“ and rival militias. Chia soon disappears in a suspected trade-off for a Western spy held by Beijing—at least that is how the Global News Media carries the story.