Yiyun Li takes on evil in “Kinder Than Solitude”

Though born in Beijing Yiyun Li writes English better than most native writers. She talks about her new book, her childhood, and the darkness of humanity: The Daily Beast

You’re living in Oakland, married, with two young sons, writing, and teaching at University of California at Davis. How do you manage this juggling act?

Once I asked Marilynne Robinson how she managed to be a writer with two sons, she said, “Just wing it.” I like to think my life has three parts at the moment: family, writing, and public life (including teaching and other obligations). The best-case scenario, of course, is for the three parts to be separate, and if one part is troubling me (for instance, writing is not going well), I can always move to another part (there is the dinner to cook).