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SPARROWS, BEDBUGS, AND BODY SHADOWS: A Memoir. By Sheldon Lou. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, in association with UCLA American Studies Center. 2005. 251 pp. US$21.00, cloth. ISBN 0-8248-2903-4.
Sheldon Lou's book adds to a large body of memoirs written by members of the generation of Chinese intellectuals who came to maturity during the 1950s and 60s, experienced the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and then made their way to the West during the early years of the Deng reforms. The general outline will be familiar to those who have read earlier works in the genre: the author is a scion of the educated and privileged classes and a good student, whose progress is temporarily halted when he is ostracized because of his perceived bad class background. He thus identifies with the victims...