"In the recess of everyone's heart exists an instinctive love of life and dread of death," the author said. In the book, Bi Shumin felt compelled to address the trauma faced by countless women suffering from breast cancer: that of a real threat removed. "The mental state of such women merits acknowledgement and empathy from the whole community."
Save the Breastis a serious work with a somewhat deviant title. The book's title is considered to be flirting with readers and luring people to buy it by suggesting sexual overtones. However, Bi denies the charge. "It is not an all-sided view to judge a book merely by its title," explained Bi. According to Bi, the title was picked by thepublisher, People's Literature Publishing House, after careful and cautious consideration. Publishing house director Liu Yushan argued that by using thetitle, the house was not catering to prurient interstes of some readers. Save the Breastdoes not intend to use sex as its selling point.Save the Breastdeals with the stories of a group of breast cancer patients.
"As an established writer, it is unnecessary for Bi to do so," Liu said. "Those who have not read the novel might bear 'certain thoughts'," he conceded. "But after reading it, they will agree that this is the most suitable title."
The book's first printing ran 120,000 copies, a very large number since the ordinary first print amount for novels sits between 5,000 to 50,000 copies. Bi originally entitled the novelCancer Patients Group(Aizheng Xiaozu), but it was given up after publishing insiders warned that the word cancer might scare away readers.
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