The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories [Paperback]

Ang Li (Author), Howard Goldblatt (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0887272223 | ISBN-13: 978-0887272226

Li Ang’s highly charged fiction has made her one of the most widely known Taiwanese authors of her time. This new anthology begins with the internationally acclaimed "The Butcher’s Wife," a novella that evoked shock and outrage in Taiwan when it first appeared in 1983. The shorter stories that follow range from Li Ang’s first story, "Flower Season" (1968), through "A Love Letter Never Sent" (1986), and include stories that are erotic, thought provoking, and cautionary.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

Product Details

• Paperback: 245 pages
• Publisher: Cheng & Tsui (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887272223
• ISBN-13: 978-0887272226
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #909,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, Moving, Often Disturbing, May 7, 2000

By 

Stephanie Kiesewetter (Normal,, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories (Paperback)

The Butchers Wife will grab you and force you to keep reading. It will often disturb you, and you will feel as if you are engaging in an act of Voyeurism. At points you will be too disgusted to go on, but you will. The discussion of rape and violence in this book is so graphic and true that as a reader of Chin Lin Shi's horrible abuse you will feel more like a friend to her than of a simple witness.

I constantly wanted to reach into the story and pull Lin Shi out and give her a safe place to be. I was extremely disturbed by the sexual subjectation that she (and through her, and women in China) have to endure. It really made me stop and think about what do men in America (not to mention other places in the world) say about women behind closed doors.

This is a definate must read. It is moving, and compelling. But my advice is, don't read it alone. Have a girlfriend, or a trusted male friend nearby to discuss the disturbing images that you will encounter.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read at your own risk, December 4, 2002

By 

John Craig XI "eleven is eleven" (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories (Paperback)

I've finally read "The Butcher's Wife" by Li Ang. It is almost definately one of the most amazing novels I have ever read. In a short three hours I felt almost every emotion that I could have felt. There is so much involved within this novel, and I beg you to experience this for yourself. I will warn you that few book stores carry it and almost no library's do that will allow it to leave their grounds.

I dare you to take a real chance with this novel.
JXI

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Butcher's Wife, March 7, 2000

By 

Amy Willerth (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories (Paperback)

The Butcher's Wife by Li Ang is a shocking story about the life that one woman had to live. She was constantly abused and degraded by her husband. This book gives a sense of reality into how bad sexual oppression really is. It describes vividly the horror this woman went through and how she decided to take charge. This book will keep you reading for it describes thoroughly this one woman's conquest to overcome her biggest fear, the fear of her own husband.