Brothers：A Novel

AbestsellerinChina,recentlyshort-listedfortheManAsianLiteraryPrize,andawinnerofFrance’sPrixCourrierInternational,BrothersisanepicandwildlyunhingedblackcomedyofmodernChinesesocietyrunningamok.HereisChinaaswe’veneverseenit,inasweeping,Rabelaisianpanoramaoffortyyearsofrough-and-rumbleChinesehistorythathasalreadyscandalizedmillionsofreadersintheauthor’shomeland.YuHua,award-winningauthorofToLive,givesusasurrealtaleoftwobrothersridingthedizzyingrollercoasteroflifeinanewlycapitalistworld.Ascomicallymismatchedteenagers,BaldyLi,asex-obsessedne’er-do-well,andSongGang,hisbookish,sensitivestepbrother,vowthattheywillalwaysbebrothers--abondtheywillstruggletomaintainovertheyearsastheyweathertheupsanddownsofrivalryinloveandmakingandlosingmillionsinthenewChina.Theirtribulationsplayoutacrossarichlypopulatedbackdropthatiseverybitasvibrant:therapidly-changingvillageofLiuTown,fullofsuchlivelycharactersastheself-importantPoetZhao,thecravendentistYankerYu,thevirginaltownbeauty(turnedmadam)LinHong,andthesimperingvendorPopsicleWang.Withslyandbitinghumor,combinedwithaninsightfulandcompassionateeyeforthelivesofordinarypeople,YuHuashowshowthemadnessoftheCulturalRevolutionhastransformedintotheequallyrabidmadnessofextremematerialism.Bothtragicandabsurdbyturns,Brothersisamonumentalspectacleandafascinatingvisionofanextraordinaryplaceandtime.