Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
***I won this book as part of a GoodReads First Reads Giveaway***
I have to say when I first got the notification from Goodreads saying that I had won this book, I wasn’t sure if i would enjoy it. So it got put on the overly full bookshelves with the intention to "get to it eventually" as with most of my books. Then I discovered that I needed a book about immigrant experiences in the United States and found that over half of the book, fit the bill and so decided to read it.
I was pleasantly surprised while reading Li’s authobiography. Having studied through various history courses a bit about Communist China, I sort of knew what to expect but he portrayed it in such vivid detail that those images will remain in my mind.
His experiences when he arrived in the United States, the perceptions of how China lied to him about them being the richest people in the world and the United States being the poorest were poignent. After he decided to defect to the United States, it felt like my heart was being torn-out after reading about his experiences.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a personal experience of living under a communist rule, as well as students who are studying those areas of history.
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