The Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, a memoir of a child growing up during China's Cultural Revolution between 1966-76.
EDIT: I finished this book today. I read it because I am going to teach a contemporary Chinese culture course soon, and am starting my coverage in the Cultural Revolution. The book is mostly representative of the "scar literature" gene of the period. But for those who have not read personal memoirs of the CR, I would highly recommend this book. It is terribly depressing, especially because it comes from the perspective of someone who was a child at the time, but it has very, very valuable lessons. It's not a hard read, but it's a difficult one; you will not want to find out what happens at the beginning of the next chapter as you make your way through it, but, if interested in 20th century China, please read it. It puts a lot about China today, and our own blown-out-of-purportion political experience, very much in perspective.
Thanks for the recommendation. For such an important event, I realize that I know almost nothing about the cultural revolution. My only real exposure is from the incredibly depressing Xiu Xiu: The Sent down girl and the snippets from The Red Violin. Maybe I'll audit your class
Just started reading some Cavalli-Sforza books on human population genetics.
