In this hypnotic epic novel, Mo Yan, the most critically acclaimed Chinese writer of this generation, takes us on a journey to a conjured province of contemporary China known as the Republic of Wine a corrupt and hallucinatory world filled with superstitions, gargantuan appetites, and surrealistic events. When rumors reach the authorities that strange and excessive gourmandise is being practiced in the city of Liquorland (so named for the staggering amount of alcohol produced and consumed there), veteran special investigator Ding Gou'er is dispatched from the capital to discover the truth. His mission begins at the Mount Lou Coal Mine, where he encounters the prime suspect Deputy Head Diamond Jin, legendary for his capacity to hold his liquor. During the ensuing drinking duel at a banquet served in Ding's honor, the investigator loses all sense of reality, and can no longer tell whether the roast suckling served is of the animal or human variety. When he finally wakes up from his stupor, he has still found no answers to his rapidly mounting questions. Worse yet, he soon finds that his trusty gun is missing. Interspersed throughout the narrative and Ding's faltering investigation are letters sent to Mo Yan by one Li Yidou, a doctoral candidate in Liquor Studies and an aspiring writer. Each letter contains a story that Li would like the renowned author's help in getting published. However, Li's tales, each more fantastic and malevolent than the last, soon begin alarmingly to resemble the story of Ding's continuing travails in Liquorland. Peopled by extraordinary characters a dwarf, a scaly demon, a troupe of plump, delectable boys raised in captivity, a cookery teacher who primes her students with monstrous recipes Mo Yan's revolutionary tour de force reaffirms his reputation as a writer of world standing. Wild, bawdy, politically explosive, and subversive, The Republic of Wine is both mesmerizing and exhilarating, proving that no repressive regime can stifle true creative imagination.

莫言，山东高密人。出身于农民家庭，小学未毕业即辍学，在农村劳动多年，期间曾经到棉花加工厂做过临时工。一九七六年二月应征入伍，在部队历任战土、班长、教员、干事、创作员等职。一九九七年十月转业到报社工作。先后毕业于解放军艺术学院文学系和北京师范大学研究生班，获文艺学硕士学位。一九八○年开始创作。著有长篇小说《红高粱家族》《天堂蒜薹之歌》《十三步》《酒国》《丰孔肥臀》《檀香刑》等八部，还有中篇小说《透明的红萝卜》《爆炸》《野骡子》《欢乐》等二十四部，短篇小说《枯河》《白狗秋千架》《拇指铐》等六十余篇，另有剧本、散文等多部。