Rating: 
Summary: Up Close Look at Mao, and His Frightful Policies
Review: Written by his personal physician, this biography is brutually frank and unromanticized. A few things you might not have known:1) Mao had a very poor understanding of physiology. He had no faith in medicine or doctors. He would not let anyone in his staff get an operation without his permission. 2) Overall, he was not hygenic. He did not bathe, but only had towel massages. He did not brush his teeth. Instead he rinsed his mouth with tea. 3) He was a complex, and contradictory person. He enjoyed being unpredictable and constantly played people off one another. He was unemotional and was largely unfazed by the fact that 25-30 million died from his Great Leap Forward fiasco. 4) Mao was an incessant womanizer. He was constantly holding dances and card playing parties to find new young women. 5) Maoist China was completely a cult of personality. Everyone was a sychophant. To give Mao the impression that his skewd policies were doing well, his staff would summon people to plant rice near the train tracks before he passed by so he could see peasants (actors) wear brightly colored clothes and generally looking happy. The last two sentences: (pg 638)
"I want it (the book) to serve as a reminder of the terrible human consequences of Mao's dictatorship and of how good and talented people living under his regime were forced to violate their consciences and sacrifice their ideals to survive."
Rating: 
Summary: Appalling lack of integrity.
Review: I must admit that I was prepared to hate this book before I read it and I was not disappointed. Dr. Li lead a life of great privilege and relative luxury courtesy of Chairman Mao. Call me old fashioned but I feel a physician should not spill his guts about a patient especially to an audience that is in general more than eager to lap up dirt about a perceived villain.
Dr. Li has reduced his patient to the status of a soap opera villain and himself a soap opera doctor. Certainly Chairman Mao is someone most Americans love to hate based on decades of propaganda from the Western press. I am well aware of Chairman Mao's failings but I recognize his greatness and his role in one of the most remarkable political undertakings in human history.
It is obvious that power corrupts. When I think about the Chinese revolution I try to imagine myself planning to reorganize China, to relieve the oppressed; redistribute the wealth; make things more fair; yadayada; and my head spins after 2 minutes; it was a gargantuan feat; it's mindboggling even in the comfort of my own home. It was an impossible task. No one could have done it. Does anyone think that any American president could have done it?
It offends me when westerners judge China by their own standards; They do things differently there. The enormity of the project is beyond our imaginings. It particularly offends me when the China bashers seem to take no interest in the poverty, injustice, oppression and abuse of power that occur right here. People dying in the streets like a developing country and no one seems embarrassed by it. People having to work 2 or 3 jobs at minimum wage to make ends meet does not concern us when we can smirk about Chairman Mao's dental problems and pediculosis.
It is difficult for me to seperate my opinion of Dr. Li from the book. He seemed content in his previous employment, got laid off, so to speak, comes to the U.S., sells his story to the highest bidder, (I wonder what the tabloids offered?), makes a pile of money and can now live a life of privilege and luxury again.
Why am I surprised that people will do anything for money?
I think Dr. Li is a dispicable opportunist with no professional ethics. No better than servants of royalty or rockstars blabbing about their employers; It's gossip; that's it; just gossip.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!!!
Review: This is the definitive study of Mao Zedong's life, political and social thought and actions after the 1949 Chinese Revolution. No detail is spared in this lucid and prodigious book that seemingly accounts for every day of Mao's reign as dictator without missing a beat or detail. Highly recommended!!!
Rating:
Summary: An Eye Opener
Review: Dr.Li has captured his quite intimate relationship with Mao in his book.Most historical accounts on PRC tends to be very peripheral and often mostly depending on official 'facts' which in most cases are questionable.This book is a real eye opener to the other side of one Mao.
Rating:
Summary: An Eye Opener
Review: Dr.Li's writings very much capture his most intimate relationship with Mao and share with readers the most private of the life of one of 20th century biggest tyrant and dictator.Most historical accounts on China are very peripheral and very often fail to capture the true reality but very often only to rely on official and politically correct version from the bearaucrats of the government of PRC or whoever is in power.His work is a real eye opener to the reader on 'the other side' of Mao. Dr. Li died recently from mysterious cause.He was in fact being murdered. It is probably because he speaks the truth and anger
some of the political extremist in China.This man is willing to sacrifice his life for truth. So this book is without doubt A MUST READ.
Rating: 
Summary: A amazing tale
Review: I have no basis for judging the accuracy of the story; but, this book was the one that inspired me to learn more about Chinese history. The book taught me about the true horror of the Great Leap Forward and evil of Mao. If even half the book is true, it was worth the read. The book has a definite bias. Fans of Mao and communism will not like it. The author also tends to find excuses for his own actions. It is an excellent read for those that know little about the Mao era.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Story worth reading
Review: Millions of people still believe that mao was a messiah. There are people who think taht Mao was a man without any shortcomings. This book gives an insight into the weaknesses of Mao and that too from a horse's mouth. Who could else be more realistic than Zhisui Li? Li might be blamed as someone who wrote all bad things about a great man after he has fled away from China and that is why this story might be termed as exagerated. But here seems to be no reason for Dr. Li to tell lies about mao at this Juncture. With all the due respects to Mao's ability to control and rule, one should not forget that after all he was a human being with all the humane weaknesses. Not only the facts presented in the book is breathtaking, the presentation itself is also very attractive. Keeping apart the political faith one might have, this book is worth reading by any one interested in contemporary history. I have been thinking of translating this book into nepali language. I am not sure who should I seek permission with? It is very important because these days my country is suffering from terrorist problem sponsored by so called "Maoist".
Rating:
Summary: Highly recomended
Review: This book opens with one of the most hilarious opening chapters of a book that I have read. Mao has just died and in what had become a tradition for Communist regimes his body had to be preserved to be kept on display. The problem was that on one knew how to preserve bodies. Calls were made to Lenin's Tomb and to the display in which Ho chi Min was kept all to no avail. It appeared that Lenin's mummification had not worked well as his nose had fallen off. A substitute nose had to be put in place. The feedback was to ring America as they were good at that sort of thing. A call to America suggested filling the blood stream with formaldehyde. There was a debate about how much to put in and it was decided to put in double the advised amount to make sure there were no mistakes. Mao after all was important and heads would roll (literally) if his body started to decompose. Huge amounts of formaldehyde were pumped into the body. Unfortunately it started to look like the Michelen Man. The assembled doctors realised that they had to do something so that they decided to massage the body to pump out the excess. The only problem was that during the massage process part of Mao's face broke of. This had to be hurriedly repaired using wax. A General came in to look at the body and looking at the face wanted to start a murder investigation. The other chapters can't keep pace with this frantic opening but it is a batman's biography of one of China's most important leaders. The author was his doctor for most of his later years and gives an account not just of the politics of Mao but of every aspect of his life. The author's role was to keep Mao alive and to fend of disease. This was not easy. Mao for instance refused to clean his teeth. As a result his teeth were covered in a sort of green coating. Although Mao liked to swim and (his residences) he never liked to wash. Mao was sexually predatory and large numbers of young women went through his bed. He picked up a number of sexual diseases and refused to be treated for them and thus spread them to his companions. The book however is more interesting than a list of scandals. It describes he mechanics of power and the court that Mao ran. The author was there constantly. He was used by Mao as a source of gossip and as such perhaps learned more of his subject than most physicians. The book describes the way that Mao's favourites would circle around him drifting in and out of favour and how they would be used by Mao so that he could remain at the centre of power. The book is not only important as a close source about one of histories (perhaps regrettably) towering figures but is fascinating to read. It has the grim fascination that a work of fiction can never have as you know that the events unfolded just a short time ago.
Rating:
Summary: Scintillating historical memoir!
Review: It is by now axiomatic that Mao Tse-Tung was a tyrant responsible in a larger sense for the deaths of up to 60 million Chinese people. Such, however, is almost as much a dogmatic view of history as it is an argueable truism. It is because of that dogmatism that one needs a close-up personal look at Mao, and Zhisui Li provides that and more in his remarkable memoir, detailing not only his service as personal physician to Mao, but providing along the way a persuasive view of a complex modern emperor and the way in which, day to day even, he shaped the world and time in which he lived and reigned. While aspects of this book have over the years remained controversial, and intimations been made with respect to the ultimate value of Zhisui's reminiscences, I hold that it remains a document remarkable for its scope and thoroughness, and especially for its historical acumen. Zhisui posits many of his observations in a context of eternal Chinese history, certainly he draws many rich and reliable comparisons between Mao and traditional Chinese emperors from the periods of China's fuedalist history. Yet it remains the natural human empathy felt by this man towards Mao Tse-Tung that makes the book riveting reading. History, after all, is made by real men and women, an idea that jingles with key relevance especially when surveying those epochs that were born of the age-old conflict of demons and saints; modern China surely falls within such a description more easily than most. Only the most degraded Westerner can yet find Mao a one-sided historical figure; certainly no one within arm's reach of this book could ever make so xenophobic an assertion, though there are surely those who will disagree with that characterization. It is true that while Zhisui's book is an audacious study of the destiny of political power, he cannot prevent other Maos escaping through the pages, those riddled with human qualities both poetic and tender, those capable of self-knowledge, and despair. It is altogether a fascinating and worthwhile look at the mystery of human folly, before all else. In the end the character of the book is therefore neither proud nor sad; rather, one man reveals another -the transformation of a world too important to trivialize- and a human trial both cruel and beautiful. It's an important piece of historical suffrage.
Rating:
Summary: Insights on a tragedy caused by Communism
Review: Having heard contrasting opinions, I started reading without knowing what to expect. I was afraid that the history of Mao may have distorted in order to attract more readers. In particular I was afraid that the description of his sexual behavior was going to be over emphasized casting a moral judgment on him that may have prevented me to form a fair and balanced opinion of his political and personal life. But after reading it, Doctor Li portrait the events fairly, condemning Mao both as a man and a politician, but without hatred. He always tries to keep a balanced view, sometime trying to understand Mao points of view or relating his actions to his human failures. I believe that after so many years, doctor Li can not remembered in such vivid details the conversation he had with Mao and therefore I believe most of the conversations have been reconstructed to make the book more readable, in such way taking away some credibility. But nevertheless, the book succeeds in depict Mao character with his weakness and failures and in giving a human prospective of how political decisions are often based on human feelings and the emotions of the moment. But what I believe the book show most, is how an ideal like Communism, which was suppose to bring happiness and justice, turned out to be a nightmare and how people who believed in it were corrupted by the power they were supposed to exercise for the people. The book shows how Mao didn't pursue his own wealth. The dinners and his privileges were little thing compare to what other powerful people may have obtained and he didn't for sure stole any money from his country. What he did he did it trying to reach Communism and the struggle against the Party was because he really believed that the Party it-self was blocking the way to Communism. His ignorance of economic matters and of how to handle a modern country brought China to a disaster. But the story of this book could be the same story of any Communist country, from Stalin, to Castro to Tito. Therefore the book do not bring shame to China, as some said, but offer a detailed and psychological insight on how a dream, and the people who were supposed to make it real, degenerated in chaos and ultimately in the end of an utopia.
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