Serve the People! - 9780802170446

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 and irresistibly increases their desire for each other. Then 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 portraits, ripping up the Little Red Book or defacing the Great Helmsman's epigrams.
Yan Lianke tramples or the sacrosanct taboos of the army, the revolution, sexuality and political etiquette in this funny, subversive critique of official corruption, leadership hypocrisy and the insanity of the Cultural Revolution. His first work to be translated into English, Serve the People! brings us one of the most important voices still writing from inside China today.
This sexually charged political satire by one of China's most distinguished authors was instantly banned in its native China, with propaganda ministers reportedly apoplectic about its depiction of the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution.