**An Observer Book of the Year**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
