Mo Yan. Big breasts, wide butt.

The work of the outstanding contemporary Chinese writer Mo Yan has received worldwide recognition, and in 2012 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is undoubtedly one of the most creative and prolific Chinese writers, the secret of whose success lies in transforming the crude and earthly into something refined, allowing one to experience true delight upon reading his works. Mo Yan is such a Chinese writer, so embodying the traditions of the classical Chinese novel in his work, while simultaneously blending them so skillfully, talentedly, and organically with contemporary trends in world literature, that the world has acquired a unique novelist – unique both in his choice of themes and in the manner in which he realizes his authorial vision. Mo Yan masterfully masters various narrative forms, imbuing them with original imagery and weaving layers of mythology, fairy tales, Chinese folklore, mysticism, and a touch of the grotesque.

"Big Breasts, Wide Butt" is a grand chronicle of twentieth-century Chinese history. Despite the horror and naturalism of the scene, it is a vibrant, elegant mural, with all the characters possessing symbolic meaning. "The history the people experience differs from official history. And literature isn't history; it's an artistic way of explaining things." Mo Yan