By Bill Marx

You want a racy, nineteenth-century epic about sex, sin, drugs, and prostitution set in China? Here it is.

Two more pieces on international fiction for World Books, the feature I edit for PRI’s The World.

A review of Night Roads, a compelling novel by the neglected Russian writer Gaito Gazdanov. Set between the two world wars, the book is narrated by a cab-driver who wheels guiltily and memorably through the streets of late night Paris.

I’ve also come up with a short but juicy list of challenging summer reads, international fiction (such as the stunning Cuban novel “The Halfway House”) that calls for concentration, especially on the beach. I may add some more volumes in the coming week.

Also ready to be posted on Monday: Tommy Wallach reviews Yoko Tawada’s “The Naked Eye,” a stylized-to-the-max tale of kidnapping and alienation.