Gang of One: Memoirs of a Red Guard
By Fan
Shen
Gang of One is a strong book—literate, witty,
humane and
affecting. Its theme, a
former Red Guard’s dream “to live an
ordinary life,” is Beautifully realized…Fan
Shen is a good story
teller…The humor, the description, his character portraits
(many excellent vignettes of people, both good and bad,
fill the memoir)—all of these elements contribute to making
this a strong book…In fact, the book is a page turner.
----Philip Gambone, author of Beijing,
Harvard University
With one humorous story after another in his
struggle to escape the
dreadful and hopeless conditions, Fan Shen’s “Gang
of One” is a
gripping and entertaining story for all readers.
It is full of ancient
chinese wisdom reapplied ingeniously by a young man
in his secret
war against a social system that seeks to stamp out
any personal
ambition.
Although the book is set in the historical
context of the Cultural
revolution in China, “Gang of One” is not the usual
historic
memoir that focuses on exposing the grim life and
injustice under
the communist regime, as do most of current memoirs
on China.
combining elements of a traditional success story
and tragic love
story, “Gang of One” is ultimately an exuberant human
comedy,
the autobiographical adventures of a clever, ambitious,
non-
conformist who, through courage, cunning, tenacity
and sheer
luck, manages to scheme his way through an oppressive
system
and emerge triumphant.
“Gang of One” is a true story about how Fan Shen
survived a
sweeping famine, endured life in a dark factory
where
thirty-seven workers, including his roommate,
killed themselves
in six years, and escaped a terrible town where
most residents
were sick from the polluted water but nobody had
been allowed
to leave for twelve years. Through those dark years, despite
having never finished elementary school or high
school,
Fan Shen studied hard and finally, against all
odds, entered
college and escaped the fate that had been allotted
him by
the society.
The book
will be available in January 2004 at all bookstores
and can be
ordered from the University of Nebraska Press:
233 North 8th
Street, Lincoln, NE 68588
1-800-755-1105 or (402)472-3584
email your order
to: pressmail@unl.edu