Phạm Xuân Nguyên (born 15 May 1958), better known by his pen name Ngân Xuyên, is a Vietnamese writer and literary translator.

[3] He interrupted his university studies to serve in the People's Army of Vietnam from 1978 to 1982, and was stationed in Ho Chi Minh City.

[5] The title is a reference to the character Thị Nở in Nam Cao's 1941 short story Chí Phèo, a woman who is well known for her unattractive appearance.

[7] Nguyên stated that it took him so long to come out with the book because he was too lazy to collect his previous essays and edit them into a coherent whole; in particular, he mentioned the World Cup season as one of the various reasons for his delays in submitting the final version to the publisher Nhã Nam for printing.

[6] Editor Diệu Thủy stated that the whole process took more than four years, and that at one time she even jokingly threatened to burn down Nguyên's house in an effort to get him to submit a draft.