"Zhang’s memoir, with its arc of resistance and personal struggle . . . written in fluent English peppered with dated Chinese idioms, begins where those older memoirs leave off. . . . She seems to suggest that in the 1980s, Chinese politics had evolved enough that they could be a quixotic diversion for a restless and headstrong girl." —New York Times Book Review 

"A riveting tale." —Wall Street Journal Asia

“A beautiful memoir of the important period when China began to recover from its political traumas and open to the outside world. Our current China literature is heavy with victim memoirs, but this is a true tale of aspiration: a young woman coming of age in a nation desperately trying to do the same.”
—Peter Hessler, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker and author of River Town

“A sharply observant and admirably crafted memoir. She places her own first experiences with factory work, foreign literature, physical desire, and political activism in the broader setting of fading Maoist impulses and the beginnings of China’s headlong pursuit of economic growth. A truly original contribution to our understanding of modern China.”
—Jonathan D. Spence, author of The Death of Woman Wang and Return to Dragon Mountain

“A literary gem in the genre of R evolutionary China. Zhang deftly crafts the journey of a whole generation, desperately yearning to break away from the ropes of tradition and living to dream the impossible. It’s a book to relish, a volume to cherish and mostly, a life to celebrate.”
—Da Chen, author of Colors of the Mountain and Brothers
 
“This affecting record of individual striving and fulfillment reminds us, with humor and insight, how the growth of sensibility in unfavorable circumstances remains one of our most pleasurable literary experiences. Set against China’s breathless recent transformation, ‘Socialism Is Great!’ offers a rare and intimate glimpse of a country and culture that are now reshaping our world.”
—Pankaj Mishra, author of An End to Suffering and The Romantics

"This revealing memoir will have readers rooting for Zhang as she fights her way out of an oppressive system." —Booklist

A taste of her story recently appeared in an Op-Ed Zhang wrote for the NYTimes on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre: "We’re still in a cage here. But for many, my fellow marchers included, it has grown so large that we hardly feel its limits."  Read the full piece here.