Based on what (admittedly) very little I have read about Mao to date, those readings led me to believe that when he was a poor, purportedly pure peasant starting out on the road to revolution, he actually did care about and wanted to help the people. Although it’s also my understanding that some historians assert that Mao was pure evil and manipulative from day one. I don’t know who is right on this debate, so I error on giving him “some” benefit of the doubt for his early years.

I would say the minimum age of Wild Swans target audience is senior level college, but a mature senior. The reader needs to have “some” context and life experience for the value of Swans to resonate with him/her. I think that even if I had read this book in my late 20s, I would not have appreciated it nearly as much as a did now that I am a mere 32 (a lie).

2. Assuming the reading fluency, what is the youngest age reader you think would be appropriate for this book?