Mao by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

“Mao had not only banned irony and satire (officially, since spring 1942), but criminalized humor itself. The regime invented a new catch-all offense—’Speaking Weird Words’—under which anything from skepticism to complaining to simply wise-cracking could lead to being labeled a spy.”

-Jung Chang and John Halliday

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”The more books you read, the more stupid you become.”

-Chairman Mao, an avid reader