Modern Chinese author, in the western world most known for his novel Red Sorghum (which was turned into a movie by the same title). Often described as the Chinese Franz Kafka or Joseph Heller.
Mo Yan (莫言) is a pen name and means don't speak. His real name is Guan Moye (simplified Chinese: 管谟业; traditional Chinese: 管謨業; pinyin: Guǎn Móyè).
He has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2012 for his work which "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary". Among the works highlighted by the Nobel judges were Red Sorghum (1987) and Big Breasts & Wide Hips (2004), as well as The Garlic Ballads.
If you didn't know much about China, and you want to learn about the culture in the last 100 years, this is your chance. The novel is interesting, full of dreams that turn into reality, and mischiefs of life are perceived ordinary in the rural chinese culture. You can call it a folk tale more than a novel. I really enjoyed it, attractive, and you can read it maybe in one (if you are a hungry reader), or two sessions.