Lao Shu's paintings feature Mr Long Gown as the main character. [Photo/China Daily]

Liu Lihua, an editor with the book's publisher New Star Press, says the title was popular beyond expectation given its price of 300 yuan ($45).

The press is reprinting the book as the first print run sold out shortly after being released in October.

Meanwhile, other publishers are pursuing him because some of their editors are longtime fans, as in the case of Wang Jiasheng, an editor from Guangxi Normal University Press that published another of his books, titled Zai Jiang Hu, in July.

"I use Lao Shu's works to take a breather when I am busy. His words and paintings are a cure for urban solitude," says Wang.

Some critics say his paintings have the same patterns as ancient masterpieces－with drawings, calligraphed poems and signature seals－but art critic Zhong Ming says they are so different "both because of his mastery of photography and graphics, which make his works alive and unique".

Born in 1962 in a village in Shandong province, Liu is also an established photographer and curator.

Speaking of Liu, Edward L. Davis' Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, published by Routledge in 2011, says: "Focusing on ordinary people－workers, peasants, and teachers－Liu is concerned with extraordinary themes－death, sex, ruins, social crisis－through a representation of non-dramatic, everyday-life-like images."