Reveals, gloriously, the companionship, intimacy, and insight that can come from obsession with the written word
LA Review of Books
Literature, the clash of public and private, human nature itself-these subjects and more are explored with remarkable subtlety and rare, limpid mental beauty. A must-read for anyone trying to stay sane in a world that might be perceived as insane
Mary Gaitskill, author of The Mare
Weaving sharp literary criticism with a perceptive narrative about her life as an immigrant in America
The Millions
An intimate memoir of darkest despair... A potent journey of depression that effectively testifies to unbearable pain and the consolation of literature
Kirkus
Quietly forceful, unrelenting... She unfolds an argument with the self, suspicious of the very concept , but not, ultimately, refuse its possibilities
Eula Biss
Novelistic scenes, limpid prose, subtly moving emotion... Personal reminiscences [and] literary meditations... Li explores ruptures in time, the difficulty of writing autobiographical fiction, the pleasures of melodrama
Publisher’s Weekly
Publisher's description. A luminous memoir from the award-winning author of The Vagrants and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. Startlingly original and shining with quiet wisdom, this is the record of a life lived with books and a richly affirming examination of what makes any life worth living.
Penguin
Beautiful and profound... This book is a terribly beautiful gift to the reader
Neel Mukherjee, New Statesman
A remarkable account of literary life [from] an important and gifted writer... Her new book is a meditation on the fact that literature itself lives and gives life
Marilynne Robinson
Extraordinary. A storyteller of the first order
Junot Diaz
