“[Huot] displays a keen sensitivity to the semiotics of contemporary Chinese cultural production. She gives sweeping overviews and goes into meticulous detail in her coverage of avant-garde fiction, drama, cinema, art, and rock music. . . . It is rare to find a scholar with her breadth and depth of interest who is so culturally sensitive, politically aware, and linguistically competent. This is a work of scholarly importance, of great value to anyone interested in modern Chinese cultural studies, and in young Chinese cultural identities in transformation at the end of the 20th Century.” — Jan Walls , Choice
“[L]ively and conversational . . . . [A]n engaging tour through many of the events and artifacts of the last fifteen years or so of Chinese cultural production.” — Jason McGrath , The Journal of Asian Studies
“Huot takes her readers on a dazzling tour through literature, film, theatre, painting, installation and performance art, and popular music. She is admirably well informed on all of these subjects, and has something to offer to readers of various backgrounds.” — Mark Leenhouts, The China Journal
“Claire Huot’s readable and engaging book is rich in specifics and subtle in its theorizing, an unequaled and up-to-date account of culture in contemporary China. From sitcoms to street-slang, the marketing of the avant-garde to the cultural politics of heavy metal, it is a work of importance to all interested in modern China, in cultural studies, and in the formation of transnational audiences and cultural identities at the century’s end.” — Craig Clunas, University of Sussex
“Remarkable. An erudite and entertaining whirlwind tour of China’s high culture, pop culture, and subculture at the turn of the century—from world-famous film directors to a ‘mad calligrapher’ who has never sold a work.” — Richard King, University of Victoria