The Hall of Uselessness: Collected Essays

Simon Leys is a Renaissance man for the era of globalization. A distinguished scholar of classical Chinese art and literature, and one of the first Westerners to recognize the appalling toll of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, Leys writes with unfailing intelligence, seriousness, and bite about European art, literature, history, and politics. He is also an unflinching observer of the way we live now.

Highlights of The Hall of Uselessness:

• The most extensive collection of Leys’s essays to date.
• Topics include:
  • The Chinese attitude to the past.
  • The mysteries of Belgium and "Belgitude."
  • Portraits of André Gide and Zhou Enlai.
  • Critiques of Roland Barthes and Christopher Hitchens.
  • Reflections on the Cambodian genocide.
  • Meditations on the spell of the sea.
  • Insights into writers such as Victor Hugo, Evelyn Waugh, and Georges Simenon.

Throughout, The Hall of Uselessness is marked by deep knowledge, skeptical intelligence, and passionate conviction—qualities that have made Simon Leys one of the most powerful essayists of our time.

The Hall of Uselessness is an illuminating compendium from a brilliant and quirky writer, and an exemplary global voice.