Xiaobo is an author about whom little public information is currently available. Only one work by this author is included in the collection: the social novel A Glance Back with a Smile. Because basic details such as dates of birth and death, nationality, and English name remain unclear, it is still difficult to trace a full picture of Xiaobo's creative development and personal background. Judging from the existing category, Xiaobo focuses on social-realist themes, presenting the relationships between people and between individuals and society in fictional form; writing of this kind usually emphasizes the depiction of everyday circumstances and the unfolding of characters' emotions. As the only representative work currently identifiable, A Glance Back with a Smile carries in its title a sense of looking back and letting go, suggesting that the narrative may weave together a search for the past with an observation of life. For readers interested in writers of social fiction, Xiaobo remains a name awaiting more works and materials to bring it into fuller view, and the direction of future writing has yet to be seen.
