The Butcher's Wife and Other Stories (Paperback)

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

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

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: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #861,427 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 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

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.

3 of 3 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)

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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Butcher's Wife, April 25, 2000

By	Julie Walschleger (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews

Once you start reading this book you will not be able to put it down. Li Ang shows readers the miserable conditions that women are forced, by society, to put up with. The woman in this book, Lin Shi, lived in fear. She had no one in her life that she could trust or depend on, including her husband. Even though she lived with her husband, she lived alone. Li Ang keeps her readers completely interested while she tells Lin Shi's story.