Ai Weiwei is one of the world's most important living artists. Born in 1957, he lives in Cambridge, UK. Allan H. Barr is the author of a study in Chinese of a literary inquisition in the early Qing dynasty, Jiangnan yijie: Qing ren bixia de Zhuangshi shi'an : , and the translator of several books by contemporary Chinese authors, including Yu Hua's China in Ten Words and Han Han's This Generation. He teaches Chinese at Pomona College in California.
[This memoir] is both intimate and expansive, an interrogation of art and freedom. . . . It's a fascinating sociopolitical history, and a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the world's most significant living artists became who he is. -Time Ai Weiwei is one of the world's greatest living artists. He is a master of multiple media. His work is always thought-provoking, unpredictable, and immensely personal. -Elton John, author of Me With uncommon humanity, humbling scholarship, and poignant intimacy, Ai Weiwei recounts a life of courage, argument, defeat, and triumph. His is one of the great voices of our time. -Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity and Far and Away: How Travel Can Change the World Like the author's brilliant installations and films, the book is an impassioned testament to the enduring powers of art-to challenge the state and the status quo, to affirm essential and inconvenient truths, and to assert the indispensable agency of imagination and will in the face of political repression. -Michiko Kakutani, author of Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread This is the rarest sort of memoir, rising above the arc of history to grasp at the limits of the soul. Ai's work is a remarkable testament to the eternal power of the simple, daring truth, underlining that an artist without the courage to speak it is merely a decorator-and a citizen without it is a subject. -Edward Snowden, author of Permanent Record Ai Weiwei's intimate, unflinching memoir is an instant classic in the literature of China's rise, a protest against the destruction of memory, and a glorious testament to the power of free expression. -Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China One thousand years of joys and sorrows are here concentrated into a mere one hundred. They are years that teem with life of a startling variety. The presentation is artful and the translation exquisite. -Perry Link, author of An Anatomy of Chinese: Rhythm, Metaphor, Politics Revelatory and moving . . . Ai Weiwei's historically precise, generously candid, and deeply delving chronicle is clarion testimony to how intrinsic art is to human nature and to defining and protecting human rights. -Booklist (starred review) Engrossing . . . Ai creates a vivid portrait of two generations grappling with their place in the Chinese cultural and political landscape, and gives readers a glimpse of his approach to art and the creative process. Highly recommended. -Library Journal (starred review) An extravagantly rewarding hybrid: a combination history of modern China, biography of a dissident poet and memoir by his provocateur son . . . a rousing but even-tempered call to action . . . His book is the story of an artist finding his voice. -Shelf Awareness Fluid, heartfelt . . . A beautiful and poignant memoir demonstrating perseverance and the power of art. -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)