This book is a collection of 92 essays and columns written by the famous publisher Yu Xiaoqun in his spare time in recent years. Mr. Yu has been at the forefront of the publishing industry for nearly four decades. Over the years, he has read a lot of books and met a lot of people. This book is a vivid account of his childhood, adolescence, family history, schooling, and passion about reading. It takes readers behind the scenes of the publishing industry: the joy of compiling and publishing books, creative ideas in the topic selection phase, encounters with authors with different personalities, and the process of bringing books to the market.

This book is split into two volumes: Volume I: Memories and Volume II: Stories behind Books. In Volume I, which contains 38 articles, Mr. Yu recalls his childhood and schooling, and shares stories of his grandfather, father and other relatives. Volume II, which comprises of 54 articles, focuses on books that Mr. Yu has published in recent years as well as those who penned these books, including Shen Changwen, Chen Mo, Wei Li, Wang Qiang, Chen Zishan, Lu Hao, and Mao Jian. It reveals their unknown side of these writers. This book also tells Mr. Yu’s stories with New Century Collection, Panorama (magazine), and Dolphin Bookstore. It is the first time that Mr. Yu’s articles on the art of bookbinding in the West in the past ten years have been published.