A NEW YORK TIMES TOP BOOK OF 2015 WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK The author of Red Sorghum and China’s most revered and controversial novelist returns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel Prize In 2012, the Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yan’s position as one of the greatest and most important writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicles the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation’s controversial one-child policy. Frog opens with a playwright nicknamed Tadpole who plans to write about his aunt. In her youth, Gugu—the beautiful daughter of a famous doctor and staunch Communist—is revered for her skill as a midwife. But when her lover defects, Gugu’s own loyalty to the Party is questioned. She decides to prove her allegiance by strictly enforcing the one-child policy, keeping tabs on the number of children in the village, and performing abortions on women as many as eight months pregnant. In sharply personal prose, Mo Yan depicts a world of desperate families, illegal surrogates, forced abortions, and the guilt of those who must enforce the policy. At once illuminating and devastating, it shines a light into the heart of communist China. Praise for Frog “A rich and troubling epic—and a very human story... hauntingly inventive.”— The New York Times "Mo Yan brings back the hallucinatory realism for which he’s known...[Frog is] another display of Mo Yan’s attractively daring approach to fiction. The Nobel committee chose wisely."— The Washington Post “Heavily laced with ardent social criticism, mystical symbolism, and historical realism, Mo Yan’s potent exploration of China’s most personal and intrusive social control programs probes the horrors and pain such policies inflict.”— Booklist “Harrowing, haunting, poignant... Mo Yan proves himself a novelist of the highest calibre.” —Financial Times (UK) "Mo Yan’s Frog is a raw, vivid and chaotic story...the novel is a major full-length work with big ideas on a highly sensitive subject...Readers may at times flinch and wish to look away. But regardless of his politics, admirers of Mr. Mo’s earlier literary offspring are likely to be equally joyful that he brought this one to term.”— The Wall Street Journal “Goldblatt’s translation is inviting, while Yan’s tale deftly explores the human toll of national policy and historical forces.”— Publishers Weekly “It's an expansive, fascinating cultural-political history. It skilfully blends high farce with social commentary, domestic drama with deeper themes…Much of the novel is funny, much is sad and moving, and Yan effortlessly moves between the two registers. And you really get a sense of how China and rural Northern Gaomi (Yan's hometown) have changed, almost beyond description, from Maoist times to the current hyper-capitalistic phase.”— Independent  (UK) "There is no denying the ease and beauty of his storytelling... this is often difficult subject matter — but never hard to read."— West Australian  "Frog has that wonderful sense of flipping between the mundane and the fantastic… Both heartbreaking and absurd… a tragicomic tale."— Adelaide Advertiser Born in 1955, MO YAN is a native of Shandong. He has written ten novels, a number of novellas, and many short stories. He lives in China. HOWARD GOLDBLATT is widely recognized as one of the best translators from Chinese to English and has received the National Translation Award as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work. He lives in Colorado. VIKING Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) LLC 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 USA
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China penguin.com A Penguin Random House Company Published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 2015 Copyright © 2009 by Mo Yan Translation copyright © 2014 by Penguin (Beijing) Ltd Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. Translated from the original Chinese edition by Howard Goldblatt Originally published by Shanghai Art and Literature Publishing House. English-language edition first published by Penguin Group (Australia) in association with Penguin (Beijing) Ltd LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Mo, Yan, 1955- [Wa. English] Frog: a novel / Mo Yan ; [translated by Howard Goldblatt] p. cm ISBN 978-0-698-18266-0 1. Childbirth—China—History—20th century—Fiction. I. Goldblatt, Howard, 1939- translator. II. Title. PL2886.O1684W32713 2015 895.13’52—dc23 2014038473 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are th