A work of considerable political power and lyrical beauty. Virtually every scene moves relentlessly toward some explosion of brutality, yet within the scenes there are moments of intense beauty, of visceral emotion and tactile life.

Mo Yan gives you a sharp and sentimental view of peasant life, while demonstrating at full throttle the nastiness, brutality, and brevity of it all.

A devastating view of modern China, intimate and convincing. The Garlic Ballads succeeds in finding a nearly perfect artistic reconciliation of politics and aesthetics.

The Garlic Ballads combines such terrible anguish with pure poetic beauty. . . . Mo is able to weave the most amazing descriptions of beauty into moments of incredible horror. The visual impact of his writing allows the reader to come to terms with the vast sweeping beauty of China.