Li Rui is one of China's boldest literary voices, and after several decades, he continues to push the envelope. His bold literary experiments with dialect and tense, combined with his honest expose of the brutalities of modern Chinese history, have set him apart from his peers and crafted one of the most fascinating and unique literary landscapes in modern Chinese literature. -- Michael Berry, author of A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film A fascinating work by one of contemporary China's most influential and innovative novelists. Balanced on the fulcrum of politics, self-interest, tradition, and desire, the novel presents a distinctively original perspective on the political struggles that turned China upside down during the Cultural Revolution. -- Carlos Rojas, author of The Naked Gaze: Reflections on Chinese Modernity A true masterpiece by one of China's greatest writers. Li Rui's compassion and unique command of narrative skill, which is mirrored in John Balcom's translation, makes this novel the truest, most moving, and most terrifying portrayal ever written of the agony and suffering created by the Cultural Revolution. -- Goran Malmqvist, Member of the Swedish Academy