From the acclaimed--and controversial--Chinese novelist: a spirited comedy of society running amok in modern China that follows two brothers riding the dizzying roller coaster of life in a newly capitalist world.

Baldy Li is a girl-crazy, teenage ne'er-do-well; his stepbrother, Song Gang, is by contrast bookish and compassionate. But despite their differences, they have vowed always to be close. They both, however, love Lin Hong, the most attractive girl in their village. While Baldy Li schemes to win her heart, inadvertently alienating her with his persistent crudeness, Lin Hong falls in love with his more respectable brother. And as the years pass and fortunes are made and lost, the brothers struggle to maintain their ties even as the world around them changes almost beyond recognition.

With an unrivalled understanding of Chinese history and a satiric, compassionate eye, Yu Hua has created a book that will resonate with Western readers just as it dazzled--and scandalized--millions of Chinese. By turns comic and tragic, filled with sly humor and a vibrant sense of life in China today, Brothers is the most important work to date from this award-winning writer.