Li provides an amazing view into a world that feels difficult to imagine. I felt like I'd have whiplash going through his life. I cannot imagine how strong he must be to have made so many courageous changes to his life. His lifetime feels as if it were two separate lives in one. How could one person experience so much? Truly an incredible story, and he did an excellent job of weaving in stories from his childhood that held symbolic importance. I'd give it three stars only because, I personally don't feel I'd ever read it again. Perhaps it's so unique a story that I don't always feel a connection to it. Nevertheless, I think the most relatable aspect of his life is how much he loves his family. To have a happy ending at the end was a lovely surprise.

I really wanted to like this book. The story of a peasant in Maoist China gets scooped up and trained to be a kick ass dancer to make a propaganda point by Madame Mao? An eyewitness witness to the culture revolution? A man who saw good teachers purged for being gay? The story of that dancer’s defection to the US that ended up involving George Bush I, Deng Xiaoping, and some truly heroic, apparently pro bono work by a lawyer who only met him a couple of times? The vague sense of fascinating diplomatic machinations? An eyewitness account of someone who danced on the knife edge of history? The first hand account of a man who walked between worlds multiple times? Great potential.

Great unrealized potential. It’s just not that deep of a text. This guy’s got a fascinating story, but he only shares the surface details. He says he loves freedom, but he never seems to interrogate what that means. All his eloquence is reserved for descriptions of material wealth. I want to believe that there was a little deeper level he chose not to share, but there’s not a lot of textual evidence. His conversion to Catholicism, for example, was half a page of “Oh, I do believe in god, and if I convert, I can marry this woman in her parents’ church,” which made me roll my eyes hard enough to metaphorically hurt.

I’m sure he’s a good guy who did the best he could, but this was not The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Would not have finished it but for the fact it was the reading group book o’ the month.

I feel really sad for Li Cunxin, because he had to leave his family to go to Beijing. He was glad that he is going to meet chairman Mao but sadness over wrapped the happiness. The last day that he was spending with his family, I had a connection with his feeling. He said that he should have spend more time with his brothers. I have thought the same thing as him before in my life. When I heard that I am moving to Malaysia, I really thought that I should have spend more time with my friends.

I think Li Cunxin is going to be a great dancer in the future because there were some people said that he had 3 long toes. I think it is a gift from when you were born. I can tell this because I also do dancing. Its good to have a git like that because if your not born with it, you have to work harder to be able to get same toes as a person who have them naturally.

I really enjoyed this book overall! I especially appreciated seeing another perspective from behind the scenes of communism and how it hurts everyone, especially the poor. Makes me even more grateful to live with and fight for freedom. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is because it is drawn out in the beginning and end. Loved the middle!

I got this book from a friend --- when he brought it back to me from Australia. My friend was leading a 'trading' workshop, and this author was in his course. The book was sooooooooo good. I never saw the movie. Has anyone? You, Susan?

Look I read this years ago so probably can’t write a proper review without rereading, but I know I enjoyed this when I did read it. Very fascinating and well told (occasionally tragic) story.

I didn't love, love, love this book, but I found it interesting and inspiring. Three stars. I felt much of it read as a young adult book. I in fact stopped my reading to go and check if it was directed toward kids. What do I find? I see that there are two editions, this one, which is for adults, and another one just for kids: Mao's Last Dancer Young Readers' Edition! I have looked into how they differ and have discovered that the children's has less details and less historical facts.

The author writes in a straightforward manner. The presentation is dispassionate, and he never dwells upon suffering. Family circumstances during the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the Great Famine are related. Communism under Mao, Madame Mao, the Gang of Four and the transfer of power to Deng Xiaoping are briefly recounted, particularly in relation to how the political changes affected Chinese ballet. Events are simply stated, and then the next point is related. An emphasis is placed on positive experiences, be it the flying of kites, New Year's celebrations or family members support and encouragement. I like books that point out what is good even when much is bad, but this book goes a step further. It quite simply feels as if it is written for children, particularly for potential young dancers, to encourage them, to give them a hero in whose footsteps they can follow. A separate book devoid of the historical facts really is not necessary. Please note that according to the book description above this book, not the kids book, has won the Kids Own Australian Literature Award in KOALA).

Teacher Xiao's guiding advice comparing dance to a mango was beautiful and inspiring. Chinese fairy tales too! Yes, he did get help from the American President and his wife and other devoted friends, but don't think success was easy. It wasn't at all!. Chance and then LOTS of hard work and physical pain lie behind what Li Cunxin has achieved. He is now the Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet in Brisbane. I admire what Li Cunxin has accomplished. His determination and hard work makes him a viable role model for young adults, and really, for adults too.

If this book is to be judged as a book for young adults, than I would give it four stars. In that it is classified here as an adult book, and in that I didn't know it was written for young adults when I picked it up, I am judging it on its merits for adults, and thus I give it three. It is wrong to simply remove historical facts and in this manner reclassify a book. It is not just content but also tone that determines classification. Others think the simplicity of the writing is just Li Cunxin's style. I liked the book. I very much admire what he has accomplished, but my stars are for the book, not the person.

This is a wonderful memoir of a young man’s life during the Mao’s regime.
He lives in a very poor village in North East China. He is given the opportunity to go to Being to study ballet. He is only eleven years old and must leave his beloved family. He is the 6th son in a family of 7 sons. He misses his family dearly and is very homesick. His training is very rigorous and he succumbs to many painful injuries, but his determination prevails.
This is Li Cunxin’s own story and is truly remarkable. It is a story of courage and strength and the love of his family.
He never would have dreamed that one day he would dance with the greatest ballet companies of the World.
This is truly an inspirational story. It should be read by all.

Mao's Last Dancer is a truly enjoyable biography yet flawed. The style is not sophisticated and at times Li Cuxin can be overly verbose, but the writing is engaging and of delicate simplicity. Li's story is a journey of love, friendship, sacrifice, perseverance, and search for personal freedom.

Li Cuxin takes a political stance but it is important to note that, as it happens with most memoirs, his point of view may be biased. Personally, I feel that Li Cuxin's portray of Mao's rule in China is mostly accurately described and I am sure that, compared to other Chinese families, Li Cuxin’s family was fortunate in spite of their very precarious life.

My issue with the book is that, I feel that at time, it just drags, some information is redundant. This seems to be a common criticism of this memoir. Li Cuxin’s writing should have been further edited, it would have helped maintain the reader’s interest. Personally, I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half. I think the first part was better written.

Before finishing my review I would also like to leave a comment about the movie: I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the book so read the book first. The former was just fine, whilst the latter one was notable in its genre, but if you have the opportunity to watch the film, do it

What an inspirational and touching book! My heart soared and I shed some tears of happiness about Li Cunxin's story, a peasant boy who lived in poverty during Chairman Mao's rule. With hard work, determination and perseverance, he goes on to achieve his wildest dreams as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time.

Full review on Happy Indulgence Books.

Fact: I'm actually North Korean. My parents lived most of their lives in the South, but both of them originally hail from the North.

When we were kids, my dad would occasionally gather us all 'round the table and tell us tales of North Korea. He would tell us about how his family struggled to survive during the war, and how Communism had ruined the country so that everyone was poor. Families only got a small ration of beef every year, that they would boil over and over again in order to make it last. He would tell us harrowing tales of poverty and oppression.

Then, I grew up and studied the Korean War and realized that my dad wasn't even in North Korea at that time. In fact, he was only an infant when his parents fled -- before the DMZ was set up.

As a result, I grew callous to the suffering of people in Communist countries. In the back of my mind, I always just kind of thought that these tales of poverty were just over-exaggerated by people like my dad who wanted to scare their kids into behaving and being grateful.

But reading Li Cunxin's autobiography set me straight. In a nutshell: Communism sucks.

Li grew up in rural China. His family did okay for themselves, and he loved both his mother (niang in Chinese) and his father (dia in Chinese) dearly. He particularly loved his mother and craved more time with her. But, as the sixth of seven sons, he didn't get much.

He describes his parents' sacrifices for their survival, and how they worked hard to keep everyone alive. The family, as well as everyone else in the area, survived on a meager diet of dried yams and the occasional protein.

Li's life changed forever when he was selected to go to Beijing to become a dancer in Mao's Beijing Dance Academy. He was only eleven years old, and leaving his beloved niang was tortuous. But he knew that he had to do this for the family's honor.

Li excelled as a dancer under the careful tutelage of many teachers. As he continued to excel, he was offered an opportunity to visit America.

One visit to America was all it took to shatter years of Communist propaganda. When he saw the freedom that the Americans had, he knew that he could never be content living in China again. Li eventually defected to the United States and became a principle dancer for the Houston Ballet.

Oh, and there's plenty of ballet-stuff in the book, too. As an unashamed owner of n  Center Stagen on DVD, that was super-fun to read.

Li's life is an amazing tale of courage and determination. But the parts that resonated most with me were his accounts of his family life. In Communist China, all the Li family had was each other. Their love and devotion to one another helped them to survive conditions that I can't even imagine. Even after defecting, Li couldn't be truly happy until he knew that his family was safe.

The writing's a little clunky, but this isn't a book written for the sake of literature. It's the tale of a man, his victory over oppression and poverty, and how his family's love for him made that all possible.

4.25/5 stars!
I never read non-fiction books. It is very rare for you to see me reading a non-fiction book, let alone an autobiography, for pleasure. I kinda read this for my English Assignment, butt it was surprisingly enjoyable!
Li's life is so intriguing and interesting to me. After watching the movie, I wanted deeper insight into his story and this book definitely gave it to me. You see all of his failures, successes, accomplishments and obstacles. It is a truly beautiful book and has taught me to fight for what I believe in. In a way, it gave me this newfound motivation to try harder in my interests. This book actually told me to sit my butt down and do my study/homework. I just think of Li and how much he has accomplished, bc if he can do it, I can too.
Just saying, the movie gave no insight into the divorce with Elizabeth and the book did. I still am sceptical of Mary for some reason. Li be do be a player tho - oOoOh.
I was defs recommend this for a different reading experience. It opened my eyes to some prominent issues still around in our world and taught me some important messages.
<3