The novel, written by Dai Sijie, is about two teenage boys during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Luo, described as having "a genius for storytelling",[1] and the unnamed narrator, "a fine musician".

[2] They are assigned to re-education through labor and are sent to a mountain called "Phoenix of the Sky" near Tibet to work in the coal mines and with the rice crop, because their doctor parents have been declared enemies of the state by the government.

Residents of the small farming village are delighted by the stories the two teenagers retell from classic literature and movies that they have seen.

They are even excused from work for a few days to see The Flower Girl at a nearby town and later retell the story to the townspeople, through a process known as "oral cinema".

However, since the revolutionary society does not permit having children out of wedlock, and she and Luo are too young, the narrator must set up a secret abortion for her.

"[9] A book review by Brooke Allen in The New York Times addresses the themes, such as the "potency of imaginative literature and why it is hated and feared by those who wish to control others.

"[10] This reviewer addresses the evil and ultimate failure of "any system that fears knowledge and education... and closes the mind to moral and intellectual truth" as well.

Publishers Weekly stated that Balzac was a "slim first novel",[9] and Brooke Allen at The New York Times Book Review called the narrative "streamlined".

A vast majority of the characters in the narrative have "epithets rather than names",[7] adding to the relaxed writing style of the novel.

[10] In order to do this, "hundreds of thousands of Chinese intellectuals [were sent] to peasant villages for re-education",[9] and within the years of "1968-1975, some twelve million youths were 'rusticated'.

[9] The English translation of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Ina Rilke was published by the company in 2001 Knopf[7] and has been praised for its clarity.

Brooke Allen of The New York Times Book Review states that the novel is "worthwhile, but unsatisfactory" and that the epithets for most of the characters "work against the material's power.

"[9] Dai Sijie directed and adapted his novel into a film, released in 2003, starring Zhou Xun, Liu Ye and Chen Kun.

This is a connection to the original French version of the novel in which the narrator describes drawing three symbols that make up the characters in his name, a horse, a sword, and bell.