An Nyrb Classics Originalsimon Leys Is A Renaissance Man For The Era Of Globalization. A Distinguished Scholar Of Classical Chinese Art And Literature And One Of The First Westerners To Recognize The Appalling Toll Of Maos Cultural Revolution, Leys Also Writes With Unfailing Intelligence, Seriousness, And Bite About European Art, Literature, History, And Politics And Is An Unflinching Observer Of The Way We Live Now.the Hall Of Uselessness Is The Most Extensive Collection Of Leyss Essays To Be Published To Date. In It, He Addresses Subjects Ranging From The Chinese Attitude To The Past To The Mysteries Of Belgium And Belgitude; Offers Portraits Of Andr Gide And Zhou Enlai; Takes On Roland Barthes And Christopher Hitchens; Broods On The Cambodian Genocide; Reflects On The Spell Of The Sea; And Writes With Keen Appreciation About Writers As Different As Victor Hugo, Evelyn Waugh, And Georges Simenon.