The eighteenth century Chinese masterpiece novel Dream of the Red Chamber is only beginning to be known in the West. Zhou, the leading expert on the novel, gives a literary and historical
biography of the author, Cao Xueqin. A group of four, two translators and two editors have now made this biography available in English. Zhou weaves the life of Cao Xueqin with centuries of
Chinese history during which the Cao family suffered many changes of fortune. He believes that one cannot understand the Dream of the Red Chamber without knowing something of the history and
culture of China. As a companion to the novel, this biography is invaluable. It would also be of interest to anyone seeking to understand recent events in China in their historical context.
Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
