Overview

BANNED IN CHINA- THE SEXY, SATIRICAL SENSATIONThis sexually charged political satire by one of China's most distinguished authors was instantly banned in its native China, with propaganda ministers enraged by its depiction of the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution.Set in 1967, at the peak of the Mao cult, Serve the People! tells the story of the bored young wife of a military commander who seduces a young peasant soldier. The two lovers soon discover that the sacrilegious act of breaking a statue of Mao dramatically increases their desire for each other. Their erotic game becomes a competition to see who can prove themselves the most counter-revolutionary by destroying the most sacred icons of their Great Leader - smashing the commander's beloved Mao icons, ripping up the Little Red Book or urinating on the Great Helmsman's epigrams.

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9781921145964

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Reviews

'Serve the People! is a great opportunity to dip your head into a very different cultural space. It's sharp, fresh, sexy, funny and highly recommended.' Sydney Morning Herald 'Censorship guaranteed its popularity, though it shouldn't obscure the book's talents...a witty and subversive erotic satire.' Age 'Yan is a poetic and passionate writer, and even his skewering of the idiocies and hypocrisies of the Great Revolution, although surgically precise, are witty and lighthearted. His novel can be read in one sitting and in fact the story is so entertaining, and so deftly told, that it is difficult not to do so.' Courier Mail 'A very funny, sexy, satire.' Independent on Sunday 'Yan Lianke's slim novel drips with the kind of satire that can only come from deep within the machinery of Chinese communism.' Financial Times 'Part of the book's attraction is that it doesn't have a western sensibility. It lets the reader see-or rather, intuit-what jokes Chinese officials don't consider funny. Yan Lianke builds his story speedily and sparely...his story is memorable and strange.' New York Times 'Serve the People! is a wonderfully biting satire, brimming with absurdity, humor and wit...the novel is exuberantly drawn in several shades of revolutionary (or should that be Revlon?) red.' LA Times

'Serve the People! is a great opportunity to dip your head into a very different cultural space. It's sharp, fresh, sexy, funny and highly recommended.' Sydney Morning Herald 'Censorship guaranteed its popularity, though it shouldn't obscure the book's talents...a witty and subversive erotic satire.' Age 'Deconstructs Maoism with the Orwellian gusto of Animal Farm...Highly readable and historically astute.' 'Yan is a poetic and passionate writer, and even his skewering of the idiocies and hypocrisies of the Great Revolution, although surgically precise, are witty and lighthearted. His novel can be read in one sitting and in fact the story is so entertaining, and so deftly told, that it is difficult not to do so.' Courier Mail 'A very funny, sexy, satire.' Independent on Sunday 'Yan Lianke's slim novel drips with the kind of satire that can only come from deep within the machinery of Chinese communism.' Financial Times 'Part of the book's attraction is that it doesn't have a western sensibility. It lets the reader see-or rather, intuit-what jokes Chinese officials don't consider funny. Yan Lianke builds his story speedily and sparely...his story is memorable and strange.' New York Times 'Serve the People! is a wonderfully biting satire, brimming with absurdity, humor and wit...the novel is exuberantly drawn in several shades of revolutionary (or should that be Revlon?) red.' LA Times

`Serve the People! is a wonderfully biting satire, brimming with absurdity, humor and wit...the novel is exuberantly drawn in several shades of revolutionary (or should that be Revlon?) red.' * LA Times * `Part of the book's attraction is that it doesn't have a western sensibility. It lets the reader see-or rather, intuit-what jokes Chinese officials don't consider funny. Yan Lianke builds his story speedily and sparely...his story is memorable and strange.' * New York Times * `Yan Lianke's slim novel drips with the kind of satire that can only come from deep within the machinery of Chinese communism.' * Financial Times * `A very funny, sexy, satire.' * Independent on Sunday * `Yan is a poetic and passionate writer, and even his skewering of the idiocies and hypocrisies of the Great Revolution, although surgically precise, are witty and lighthearted. His novel can be read in one sitting and in fact the story is so entertaining, and so deftly told, that it is difficult not to do so.' * Courier Mail * `Censorship guaranteed its popularity, though it shouldn't obscure the book's talents...a witty and subversive erotic satire.' * Age * `Serve the People! is a great opportunity to dip your head into a very different cultural space. It's sharp, fresh, sexy, funny and highly recommended.' * Sydney Morning Herald *

Author Information

Yan Lianke was born in 1958 in Henan Province, China. Text has published his novels Serve the People! and Dream of Ding Village, which was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Lianke has won two of China’s most prestigious literary awards: the Lu Xan Prize and the Lao She Award. He lives in Bejing.

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