The author describes her experiences during China's Cultural Revolution, relating how she was "sent down" to the largest work camp in China, where she endured lies and betrayal until she was able to attend Madame Mao's university.

Preface to the Second Edition -- Author's Note -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Dragon Calamity -- 1 The Rise of the Ref Guards -- 2 Sword Out of the Scabbard -- 3 Holy Months -- 4 A Song of Loyalty -- 5 The Dog's Son and Daughter -- 6 The Death of Civilization -- 7 Unbridled -- 8 The Fall of the Red Guards -- 2 Between Fire and Flood -- 9 Good-bye Shanghai -- 10 This Broad Land -- 11 Fear Neither Hardships nor Death -- 12 The Sugar Trap -- 13 The Da Zhai Movement -- 14 Asceticism--Spring Tide under the Iceberg -- 15 Dance with Fire -- 16 The Price Paid -- 17 The Beauty of a Goddess -- 18 Mother's Heart -- 19 Our Footsteps Stop Here -- 20 The Lin Biao Incident -- 21 Marriage--Springboard Back to the City -- 22 The Tide Turns -- 23 Farewell -- 3 The Impenetrable Kingdom -- 24 A Student of a Kind -- 25 Professor "Rat Crossing the Street" -- 26 The Punishment of Knowledge -- 27 Open-Door Schooling -- 28 Nipping the Bud of Love -- 29 A Slip of the Tongue -- 30 Down with Deng Xiaoping -- 31 A Stab in the Back -- 32 All Rivers Flow to the Sea -- 33 Flight to Freedom -- 34 A Calling -- Chronology of Events.