Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress -- Dai Sijie, Paperback

New York Times Bestseller

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.

Author: Dai Sijie
Publisher: Anchor Books
Published: 10/29/2002
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.30w x 0.49d
ISBN: 9780385722209

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 7.3
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 68632 / Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Award: Book Sense Book of the Year Award - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
BookPage 11/01/2002 pg. 19
Kliatt 03/01/2003 pg. 22
Commonweal 12/03/2004 pg. 30

About the Author
Born in China in 1954, Dai Sijie is a filmmaker who was himself "re-educated" between 1971 and 1974.
He left China in 1984 for France, where he has lived and worked ever since. This, his first novel, was an overnight sensation when it appeared in France in 2000, becoming an immediate best-seller and winning five prizes. Rights to the novel have been sold in nineteen countries, and it is soon to be made into a film.