One of the most important contemporary Chinese writers—and one of the most staunch critics of censorship in his country—Yan Lianke uses satire to create plots inspired by the idiosyncrasies of his compatriots. After the success of *In Service of the People*, banned in China for mocking Mao Zedong's regime, he returns with another controversial theme: the commercialization of human blood. Based on three years of research into the blood trade in his home province of Henan, *DREAM OF DING VILLAGE* is an elegant literary tour de force. A book that confirms Lianke's talent and, at the same time, presents a harsh and concise observation of underdevelopment in rural China. Beginning with a small village where blood is bought and sold freely, with dire consequences, the author creates a novel that illustrates how the pursuit of wealth drains natural resources and contaminates the lives of the population. Beginning with little Qiang, an innocent boy killed at age 8, the story of AIDS Village is unpretentiously told. In Henan province, in the early 1990s, poor villagers find themselves seduced by the prospect of leaving poverty behind. All at a seemingly low cost: selling their own blood. Soon, plasma donors and collectors begin a frantic cycle, heedless of the use of sterile needles. From discord among the villagers to the establishment of an order intrinsic to the village—and alienated from the government—the boy, murdered as a result of his father's enrichment from the blood collection scheme, exposes the villagers' character flaws and virtues. We are led to question what is right and what is wrong within the chaos caused by the government itself. Ethics are inverted, and according to their own morality, groups of survivors will do everything possible to protect themselves and ensure a dignified death.
