Translator's introduction / Carlos Rojas
He who has been selected by heaven and life to appreciate darkness
National amnesia and literary memory
The abjection of alt-China and its literature
The wild child that is American literature
My thoughts on literary censorship and controversy
The distinctiveness of writing in China
Fear and betrayal have accompanied me throughout my life
Writing under a sky of concentrated power and relative laxity
Living without dignity but writing with honor
My ideal Is simply to write a novel that I think is good
A village's China and literature
Afterword: Ripping open the dreamscape.