Title: Human Story of Cultural Significance
Product review: In Communist China in 1961, a boy is born as the 6th of 7 to a peasant family. When 11, he is taken from his family and studies in Beijing at Madame Mao's Academy of Dance. He is brainwashed into the Communist way of life for the next 7 years. On a trip to American where he studies with the Houston Ballet for a year, he defects. He does not see his parents for another 7 years and only returns to see the rest of his family after 9. By this time, he is a famous and successful dancer and is married to a Catholic ballerina!A truly fascinating book. To read about Communist China in the 1970's from a first person account is as close as you can get to being there. Li makes his story so engaging and real that you come away with a feeling of triumph rather than pity or sorrow for his experiences. There is a great capacity for empathy in him that is transferred to the reader. You don't hate China - you grow to understand the problems the government faced.
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