The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo - playful provocative and
original it's her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own 'When it comes to
spinning light and shadow on the complexities of living loving and language Xiaolu Guo is one
of the most valuable writers in the world ' DEBORAH LEVY The world can seem strange and
lonely when you step away from your family and everything you have tried to call your own. Yet
beauty may also appear. In the autumn of 2019 Xiaolu travelled to New York to take up her
position as a visiting professor for a year leaving her child and partner behind in London.
The encounter with American culture and people threatens her sense of identity and throws her
into a crisis - of meaning desire obligation and selfhood. This is a memoir about separation
- by continents by language and from people. It's about being an outsider and the desperate
longing to connect. Xiaolu uses her exploration of language (one of the meanings of the word
'radical' is the graphic component or root of Chinese characters) and her own life to
create this unique text. At once a memoir a dictionary and an ardent love letter it is an
expression of her fascination with Western culture and her nostalgia for Eastern landscapes
and an attempt to describe the space in between. An archive of an artist's search for creative
freedom it is above all else an intimate account of her efforts to carve out a life of her
own. 'Radical in angle of attack smart and brave' IAIN SINCLAIR author of The Gold Machine
