34 lines
2.1 KiB
HTML
34 lines
2.1 KiB
HTML
<!doctype html>
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<meta name="author" content="John Gu" />
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<meta property="article:published_time" content="2025-07-05T00:00:00Z" />
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<link rel="canonical" href="https://ageofpeace.substack.com/p/introduction-and-welcome" />
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</head>
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<body>
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<article>
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<p><em>After securing a teaching job at a foreign university on “the thinnest set of credentials,” a young man sets off for life in Varrenia, an impoverished eastern kingdom still emerging from the shadow of a decades-long dictatorship. Years later, living in the decadent capital of Garamdal, our protagonist watches a war unfold in the republic’s restive eastern provinces and reflects on what he has gained — and lost — in a life of travel.</em></p>
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<h2>About the author</h2>
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<p>
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In my late twenties, I did a short stint as a grad student in mathematical logic at the University of Amsterdam, where I learned that I am <em>not</em> smart enough to be a mathematician. After dropping out of grad school, I ended up staying in Europe for five years. This novel, greatly influenced by that experience, is my love letter to Europe and to that time.
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</p>
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<img src="johngu.jpg" alt="John Gu" />
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<p>I am also very proud to be able say that I grew up in Houston — I actually come from the same neighborhood as Lizzo, Mo Amer, and Tila Tequila, cultural luminaries all.</p>
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<h2>Previous publications</h2>
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<p> TBD </p>
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<h2>Influences</h2>
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<p>Some readers of my work have remarked that it shares an affinity with the following writers and books. In some cases, these figures represent inspirations that I have leaned into, in others, the similarities (of theme, style, subject matter) are more coincidental:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>In Patagonia, Bruce Chatwin</li>
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<li>Waiting for the Barbarians, J.M. Coetzee</li>
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<li>Balkan Ghosts, Robert Kaplan</li>
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<li>A Bend in the River, V.S. Naipaul</li>
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<li>Paul Bowles</li>
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<li>Milan Kundera</li>
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</ul>
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</article>
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