My parents came across a book at a sale that they forgot about until today when we scanned the shelves of their home to see what we could donate to the local library’s next book sale. On the shelf was a hardcover copy of The Poems of Mao Tse-Tung from 1972, with the dust jacket in perfect condition, translated by Willis Barnstone and Ko Ching-Po. 

The translations of the poems are alongside the original Chinese. The poems range from 1925 to 1963, though many are from the 1930s. Unfortunately, much is lost in the translation of Mao’s poetry as it can be rather dull to read–I’ve been told that it is quite exceptional in Chinese.

Most surprising is that this book survived the years of anti-communist sentiments in the US. And that it survived in New Jersey is even more amazing.

From the dust jacket:

Mao is an enigmatic figure to the West–a peasant revolutionary who united a quarter of mankind. That he is also a poet of extraordinary grace and eloquent simplicity is totally unexpected.