Record deal for Chinese novel

The Penguin Group has purchased the English-language rights to China’s bestselling novel, “The Wolf Totem,” for a record $100,000.

Jiang Rong’s 2004 Chinese-language novel about the struggle for life on the Mongolian grasslands will be published in English in 2007, An Boshun, Jiang’s agent with Changjiang Literary Art Press, said Monday.

“This is the biggest overseas book deal in mainland China,” An said. He said Penguin also agreed to a 10% royalty on each book sold, almost double what is standard in China. “We talked with a lot of big international publishers, but Penguin offered a very good price and a concrete and satisfying plan to publish the book’s English version globally.”

The meticulously researched, semi-autobiographical tale is built around the lives of wolves told through the eyes of a student sent to work on the Inner Mongolian grasslands. It is set during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong emptied the cities of educated youths to have them work alongside peasants and herders.