Party Members is a 2016 novel by Arthur Meursault, published by Camphor Press.
Deep within the heart of China, far from the glamour of Shanghai and Beijing, lies the Chinese every-city of Huaishi. This worker’s paradise of smog and concrete is home to Party Member Yang Wei, a mediocre man in a mediocre job. His content life of bureaucratic monotony is shattered by an encounter with the advanced consumer goods he has long been deprived of. Aided by the cynical and malicious advice of an unlikely mentor, Yang Wei embarks on a journey of greed, corruption, and murder that takes him to the diseased underbelly of Chinese society.
Will Yang Wei achieve his ambition of promotion to the mysterious eighth floor? Will he win the love of his beautiful but materialistic colleague, Rainy? And will his penis stop telling him to eat at fast-food restaurants? Just how far will Yang Wei go to achieve his pursuit of wealth, glory, and a better car?
Party Members is a bleak and black comedic fantasy about a world where to get rich is glorious, no matter who gets hurt in the process. Designer handbags, sex, karaoke, and shady property deals combine to paint a picture of modern China unlike anything seen before.
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'Party Members'' contains examples of:
- Body Horror: After the penis comes to life, it grows larger throughout the book, culminating in it taking over Yang Wei's body and turning Yang Wei into a flaccid penis
- The Chew Toy: Pang Pang, very much so.
- Double-Meaning Title: Party Members refers to more than just the members of the Chinese Communist Party.
- Karma Houdini: Yang Wei, or more accurately, his penis who gets away with a litany of offenses, not limited to murdering the daughter of migrant workers and then jailing her grieving parents for non-existent crimes.
- Director Liang, who blesses Yang Wei's actions and orders him to "harmonize" Shanshan's grieving parents.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Yang Wei's coworkers have no reaction to the giant walking, talking penis moving about the office smelling of semen
- Verbal Tic: Little Qi likes to say "Fuck me" to express surprise and/or amazement.
