Guo Jingming (Photo from book.cyol.com)

Who's the most successful writer in China today? A recent feature story in the New York Times says China's most successful writer is Guo Jingming, whom some Chinese readers claim is overrated.

In "China's Pop Fiction," published on Sunday, Aventurina King wrote that 24-year-old Guo is a pop idol whose "cross-dressing, image-obsessed persona has made him a sensation" in China, as evidenced by the popularity of his portrait-heavy blog and jam-packed signing sessions.

Yet an ongoing survey on Sohu.com, a popular Chinese Web portal, shows that over 80 percent of the respondents so far agree that Guo doesn't live up to the honor.

While the New York Times article seems to mean that Guo Jingming is the most commercially successful writer, many of the Sohu responders think the young writer has not fully developed in literature and his showy persona is unacceptable by Chinese standards.

The remaining 20 percent argue that commercial success weighs heavily in modern society, so Guo is successful because of his best-selling books.

Guo Jingming earned more than any other Chinese writer last year, according to the annual list of millionaire writers. He tops the list with 11 million yuan ($1.48 million) in copyright royalties, beating Yu Qiuyu, a renowned scholar and the wealthiest writer of 2006.

Guo told the Chongqing Evening News in a recent interview that he had yet to read the New York Times story, but that the honor was invigorating. He says a successful writer is someone whose books are favored by readers.

(CRIENGLISH.com May 5, 2008)