Shanghai Dancing is a 2003 novel by Australian novelist Brian Castro.

Shanghai Dancing
First edition
AuthorBrian Castro
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
PublisherGiramondo Publishing
Publication date
2003
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages447
ISBN0957831188
Preceded byStepper 
Followed byThe Garden Book 

Plot summary edit

The novel's main character is, like the author, named Castro, living in Australia and hailing from a Chinese and Portuguese background. Antonio Castro is attempting to come to an understanding of his complicated family history, and in particular, about the lives of his parents in Shanghai during the 1930s.

Notes edit

Epigraph:

  • Author note: 'Shanghai Dancing is a fictional autobiography. Told from an Australian perspective and loosely based on my family's life in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macau from the 1930s to the 1960s.'
  • Epigraph: We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. (Franz Kafka)
  • Dedication: For B. B.

Reviews edit

  • The Sydney Morning Herald[1]

Awards and nominations edit

References edit