Overview

A mystifying climatic incongruity begins the award-winning novel Lenin's Kisses--an absurdist, tragicomic masterpiece set in modern day China. Nestled deep within the Balou mountains, spared from the government's watchful eye, the harmonious people of Liven had enough food and leisure to be fully content. But when their crops and livelihood are obliterated by a seven-day snowstorm in the middle of a sweltering summer, a county official arrives with a lucrative scheme both to raise money for the district and boost his career. The majority of the 197 villagers are disabled, and he convinces them to start a traveling performance troupe highlighting such acts as One-Eye's one-eyed needle threading. With the profits from this extraordinary show, he intends to buy Lenin's embalmed corpse from Russia and install it in a grand mausoleum to attract tourism, in the ultimate marriage of capitalism and communism. However, the success of the Shuanghuai County Special-Skills Performance Troupe comes at a serious price. Yan Lianke, one of China's most distinguished writers--whose works often push the envelope of his country's censorship system--delivers a humorous, daring, and riveting portrait of the trappings and consequences of greed and corruption at the heart of humanity.

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Reviews

Yan Lianke is a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize! Winner of the Lao She Literary Award * New York Times Editors' Choice* New Yorker Best Book of 2012* MacLeans Best Books of 2012* Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012 [An] epic jest of a novel . . . Yan s postmodern cartoon of the Communist dream caving to run-amok capitalism is fiendishly clever. New York Times Book Review Yan, one of China s most successful writers, is still gaining attention abroad, but this story of a village that decides to buy Lenin s corpse is Yan at the peak of his absurdist powers. He writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that 'reality and satire are the same.' The New Yorker Lenin s Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin s Kisses [is] hard to put down. Chicago Tribune [A] complex, captivating masterpiece. . . . [Lianke] summons rare wonder: he manages to create a wretched, absurd and beautiful universe both brand-new and newly eternal. Macleans Yan Lianke is one of the best contemporary Chinese writers. . . . As incisive as his social criticism is, he manages to protect his literary strength. The Independent Sprawling, sometimes goofy, always seditious novel of modern life in the remotest corner of China . . . Set Rabelais down in the mountains of, say, Xinjiang, mix in some Gunter Grass, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and you re in the approximate territory of Lianke s latest exercise in epatering the powers that be . . . A satirical masterpiece. Kirkus Reviews [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalismespecially when the formerly oppressed become filthy richunder such a political system. Lenin s Kisses provides illuminating insight. Counterpunch Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China s decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager

Yan Lianke is a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize! Winner of the Lao She Literary Award * New York Times Editors' Choice * New Yorker Best Book of 2012 * MacLeans Best Books of 2012 * Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012 [An] epic jest of a novel . . . Yan's postmodern cartoon of the Communist dream caving to run-amok capitalism is fiendishly clever. --New York Times Book Review Yan, one of China's most successful writers, is still gaining attention abroad, but this story of a village that decides to buy Lenin's corpse is Yan at the peak of his absurdist powers. He writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that 'reality and satire are the same.' --The New Yorker Lenin's Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. --Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin's Kisses [is] hard to put down. --Chicago Tribune [A] complex, captivating masterpiece. . . . [Lianke] summons rare wonder: he manages to create a wretched, absurd and beautiful universe both brand-new and newly eternal. --Macleans Yan Lianke is one of the best contemporary Chinese writers. . . . As incisive as his social criticism is, he manages to protect his literary strength. --The Independent Sprawling, sometimes goofy, always seditious novel of modern life in the remotest corner of China . . . Set Rabelais down in the mountains of, say, Xinjiang, mix in some G�nter Grass, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez, and you're in the approximate territory of Lianke's latest exercise in �patering the powers that be . . . A satirical masterpiece. --Kirkus Reviews [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalism--especially when the formerly oppressed become filthy rich--under such a political system. Lenin's Kisses provides illuminating insight. --Counterpunch Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China's decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. --Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. --Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager Yan Lianke is a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize! Winner of the Lao She Literary Award * New York Times Editors' Choice * New Yorker Best Book of 2012 * MacLeans Best Books of 2012 * Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012 [An] epic jest of a novel . . . Yan s postmodern cartoon of the Communist dream caving to run-amok capitalism is fiendishly clever. New York Times Book Review Yan, one of China s most successful writers, is still gaining attention abroad, but this story of a village that decides to buy Lenin s corpse is Yan at the peak of his absurdist powers. He writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that 'reality and satire are the same.' The New Yorker Lenin s Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin s Kisses [is] hard to put down. Chicago Tribune [A] complex, captivating masterpiece. . . . [Lianke] summons rare wonder: he manages to create a wretched, absurd and beautiful universe both brand-new and newly eternal. Macleans Yan Lianke is one of the best contemporary Chinese writers. . . . As incisive as his social criticism is, he manages to protect his literary strength. The Independent Sprawling, sometimes goofy, always seditious novel of modern life in the remotest corner of China . . . Set Rabelais down in the mountains of, say, Xinjiang, mix in some Gunter Grass, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and you re in the approximate territory of Lianke s latest exercise in epatering the powers that be . . . A satirical masterpiece. Kirkus Reviews [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalismespecially when the formerly oppressed become filthy richunder such a political system. Lenin s Kisses provides illuminating insight. Counterpunch Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China s decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager Winner of the Lao She Literary Award * New Yorker Best Book of 2012 * MacLeans Best Books of 2012 * Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012 Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China's decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. -- Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin's Kisses [is] hard to put down. -- Chicago Tribune [A] complex, captivating masterpiece. . . . [Lianke] summons rare wonder: he manages to create a wretched, absurd and beautiful universe both brand-new and newly eternal. -- Macleans [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalism--especially when the formerly oppressed become filthy rich--under such a political system. Lenin's Kisses provides illuminating insight. -- Counterpunch Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flouris Winner of the Lao She Literary Award Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China's decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. -- Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin's Kisses [is] hard to put down. -- Chicago Tribune [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalism--especially when the formerly oppressed become filthy rich--under such a political system. Lenin's Kisses provides illuminating insight. -- Counterpunch Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the f Winner of the Lao She Literary Award Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. --Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. --Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager Praise for Yan Lianke: One of China's greatest living authors and fiercest satirists. -- The Guardian [Yan Lianke] is one of China's most successful fiction writers. -- The New York Times Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. --Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. --Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager One of China's most successful fiction writers. -- The New York Times International praise for Lenin's Kisses Yan Lianke sees and describes his characters with great tenderness . . . this talented and sensitive writer exposes the absurdity of our time. -- La Croix Yan Lianke weaves a passionate satire of today's China, a marvelous circus where the one eyed-man is king . . . Brutal. And wickedly funny. -- L'Express

Yan Lianke is a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize! Winner of the Lao She Literary Award * New York Times Editors' Choice * New Yorker Best Book of 2012 * MacLeans Best Books of 2012 * Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012 [An] epic jest of a novel . . . Yan's postmodern cartoon of the Communist dream caving to run-amok capitalism is fiendishly clever. --New York Times Book Review Yan, one of China's most successful writers, is still gaining attention abroad, but this story of a village that decides to buy Lenin's corpse is Yan at the peak of his absurdist powers. He writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that 'reality and satire are the same.' --The New Yorker Lenin's Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. --Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin's Kisses [is] hard to put down. --Chicago Tribune [A] complex, captivating masterpiece. . . . [Lianke] summons rare wonder: he manages to create a wretched, absurd and beautiful universe both brand-new and newly eternal. --Macleans Yan Lianke is one of the best contemporary Chinese writers. . . . As incisive as his social criticism is, he manages to protect his literary strength. --The Independent Sprawling, sometimes goofy, always seditious novel of modern life in the remotest corner of China . . . Set Rabelais down in the mountains of, say, Xinjiang, mix in some G nter Grass, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel Garc a M rquez, and you're in the approximate territory of Lianke's latest exercise in patering the powers that be . . . A satirical masterpiece. --Kirkus Reviews [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalism--especially when the formerly oppressed become filthy rich--under such a political system. Lenin's Kisses provides illuminating insight. --Counterpunch Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China's decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. --Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. --Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager

Yan Lianke is a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize! Winner of the Lao She Literary Award * New York Times Editors' Choice * New Yorker Best Book of 2012 * MacLeans Best Books of 2012 * Kirkus Best Fiction of 2012 [An] epic jest of a novel . . . Yan's postmodern cartoon of the Communist dream caving to run-amok capitalism is fiendishly clever. --New York Times Book Review Yan, one of China's most successful writers, is still gaining attention abroad, but this story of a village that decides to buy Lenin's corpse is Yan at the peak of his absurdist powers. He writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that 'reality and satire are the same.' --The New Yorker Lenin's Kisses wickedly satirizes a sycophantic society where money and power are indiscriminately worshiped. --Wall Street Journal A funny yet dark satirical novel . . . [that] offers Western readers a unique perspective on rural China . . . Lenin's Kisses [is] hard to put down. --Chicago Tribune [A] complex, captivating masterpiece. . . . [Lianke] summons rare wonder: he manages to create a wretched, absurd and beautiful universe both brand-new and newly eternal. --Macleans Yan Lianke is one of the best contemporary Chinese writers. . . . As incisive as his social criticism is, he manages to protect his literary strength. --The Independent Sprawling, sometimes goofy, always seditious novel of modern life in the remotest corner of China . . . Set Rabelais down in the mountains of, say, Xinjiang, mix in some Gunter Grass, Thomas Pynchon and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and you're in the approximate territory of Lianke's latest exercise in epatering the powers that be . . . A satirical masterpiece. --Kirkus Reviews [A] mind-blowing story . . . incorporating satire, social and political criticism of life under Chinese Communism, as well as the limitations of capitalism--especially when the formerly oppressed become filthy rich--under such a political system. Lenin's Kisses provides illuminating insight. --Counterpunch Both a blistering satire and a bruising saga . . . Yan boldly plunges into the psychic gap between China's decades-old conditioned response to communist doctrine and its redefinition of itself as a capitalist power, creating with bold, carnivalesque strokes a heartbreaking story of greed, corruption, and the dangers of utopia. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lenin's Kisses is a grand comic novel, wild in spirit and inventive in technique. It's a rhapsody that blends the imaginary with the real, raves about the absurd and the truthful, inspires both laughter and tears. Carlos Rojas's translation captures the vigor of the original, funny, poised, peculiar but always rational. The publication of this magnificent work in English should be an occasion for celebration. --Ha Jin, author of Waiting and Nanjing Requiem A masterpiece on many levels, most pertinently literary. It is crafted in the most lyrical prose style, and in an intimate voice filled with poetic flourishes and narrative craftsmanship. This is a tale of modern China with all its wonders, marvels and absurdities and ironies roped together, making it a must-read. It's little wonder that the author has won both China's equivalences of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. And this book is the finest gem to reflect this man's gift. --Da Chen, author of My Last Empress Lenin's Kisses shines with both the lyrical flourishes of magical realism and the keenly sharpened knives of great satire. The reader joins the inhabitants of the village of Liven as they confront the great upheavals of 20th Century Chinese history armed with both whimsy and their obsessive determination to prevail. This tale is at once breathtaking and seriously funny. Anyone who wishes to understand the psychic world-view of the modern People's Republic of China must read this fine novel. --Vincent Lam, author of The Headmaster's Wager

Author Information

"YAN LIANKE was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China. He is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections, including ""Serve the People!"" and ""Dream of Ding Village,"" which was short-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize and adapted into a film, renamed ""Til Death Do Us Part."""

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