Mao cover

Mao

by Jung Chang

A biography of of Mao Zedong taken from the perspective of his relationship to women. The normal biographical elements make up the majority of the text but when there is an interesting aspect regarding Mao's attitude toward women, Jung Chang (a woman) goes for it. For example... any normal biography of Mao, would take account of the movements of Mao's army as he took control of China but it is interesting that his army camped outside the town where his wife and son lived (had been abandoned, frankly) and he made no effort whatsoever to meet them. Little things like that give the reader insight into the character of Mao... along with his mass murders, of course.

More by Jung Chang

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?