The Barefoot Lawyer

January 26, 2015
As this riveting memoir recounts, Chen grew up poor and blind in rural China, with few realistic expectations for his future. As he grew older, however, his family was able to secure him an education, which included—pivotally—auditing legal courses. In this way, Chen became more aware of his country’s rampant corruption. Readers will be horrified to learn of the official response that greeted Chen’s attempts, via protests, to guarantee enforcement of legal protections for the disabled on the books in China: beatings, torture, a multiyear prison stint, and finally, house arrest. He then describes how, defying the odds, he escaped to the American embassy, where he petitioned online communities to support his case and demand his release. At last he broke free and moved, with his family, to the U.S. The picture of the Chinese government that emerges from this story is one of blatant corruption and blind rule-following, brutally punishing prisoners for even minor infractions or requests. Chen has an excellent sense of pace and attention to detail, and he knows how to fill in cultural gaps for those less familiar with China. The result is an eminently readable, albeit chilling memoir that will grip the attention of readers everywhere.

January 15, 2015
Secretive government agents pursue a blind dissident who scales the walls of his prison in the dead of night. No, it's not the next Hollywood thriller but rather the story of Chen's life.Blind since infancy in rural China, Chen was barred from primary school due to his disability and seemed destined for life as an itinerant fortuneteller, the traditional occupation of blind people in his region. Instead, through his intelligence and force of will, he finished university-in Chinese medicine, then one of the only degrees open to blind students-and built an international reputation as a human rights crusader. His first book recounts his unlikely rise to fame, his constant harassment by the authorities and his prolonged imprisonment following a quixotic campaign against the one-child policy. Chen's lawyers chartered a bus to see him in jail, but "it was pulled over by two unmarked cars. A group of men boarded the bus and beat the two attorneys with metal clubs. Both were badly injured, with [one] sustaining a skull fracture." After serving his time, Chen was immediately locked up with his family in a sort of draconian house arrest, where his dozens of guards competed to see who could shout the most colorful insults at his wife and children. Tense and tightly written, the book is a suspenseful window onto Chen's struggle, with disaster constantly on the horizon. His courageous escape attempt began inauspiciously, but it ended thousands of miles away with his family safely ensconced in New York. The memoir ends with his arrival in America, omitting mention of how he's since alienated many of his friends and supporters with his deepening ties to ultraconservative organizations. Richly layered and vibrant, Chen's stirring tale of bravery and perseverance in the face of oppression is a moving call to arms for the ideas of human dignity and the rule of law.

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February 15, 2015
Chen had been under house arrest for seven years for defying oppressive Chinese government policies when he escaped in 2012. What made his escape so daring was the fact that he had been blind since childhood. The son of a poor farmer in rural China, Chen helped to work the fields and looked forward to a bleak future until he was sent to a school for the blind. He eventually earned a degree in medicine but decided instead on a career as an activist when he undertook a project to build a well in his rural village, despite government resistance. He eventually became a barefoot lawyer, a self-taught activist who advocated for women's rights, land rights for villagers, and welfare rights for the poor. He defied the government's family-planning policies. Following his escape, Chen made it to the U.S. embassy in Beijing and eventually gained asylum in the U.S. This is an astonishing story of one man's fight to overcome personal odds for himself and for the cause of justice for the citizens of his nation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

May 15, 2013

Blinded by illness in infancy and illiterate until his teens, Chen taught himself law and came to defend China's less fortunate. That led to house arrest, a dramatic escape, and a diplomatic crisis after Chen sought shelter in the U.S. embassy in Beijing. Here he details both his flight to freedom and his backstory, offering a real insider's look at China today.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015

In April 2012, blind political activist Chen escaped house arrest in China and found his way to the American embassy in Beijing, making international headlines and creating a diplomatic conundrum for the United States in the process. Chen's autobiography describes the events that led up to his arrest and daring escape, including his advocacy for the rights of disabled people as well as his objection to forced sterilization programs enacted under China's one-child policy. Several vignettes illustrate the author's early determination to move beyond the limited educational and employment opportunities then available to disabled people in China. His rhetorical style can border on the hyperbolic, particularly when discussing the benevolence of the States, but it is clear that Chen has an unwavering belief in the power of the human spirit to persevere against oppression. The narrative ends with Chen's arrival in America, and therefore does not examine the struggles he has experienced since he came to this country. VERDICT A fast-paced, eye-opening read for those interested in human rights, foreign policy, and cross-cultural studies. This title provides an interesting counterpoint to material focused narrowly on the economic growth and impact of modern China.--Rebecca Brody, Westfield State Univ., MA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.