A Memoir of Misfortune

Praise

“Su…has given us new insight into the human condition by virtue of the melancholy voyage he was forced to take.” –The New York Times

"Achingly beautiful. . . . A record of intense soul-searching, of a reevaluation of the self’s role in the family, and of the impossibility of understanding and mastering one’s (mis)fortune. Su Xiaokang writes with candor, feeling, and intelligence." –Ha Jin, National Book Award-winning author of Waiting

“Filled to the brim with bitter rapture and auspicious musings about the varieties of love, stages of life and tactics for braving misfortune. These pages simmer with eloquent vitality.” —The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)

"Su Xiaokang reminds us all of the agonizing consequences exile can have: loss of purpose, loss of language, loss of country, loss of familiar audience. But faced with the greatest potential loss of all, his wife’s death, Su comes back from the edge to create an astonishing work of love and compassion, one that reaffirms the triumph of life." –Jonathan Spence, Yale University
Translated from the Chinese by Zhu Hong