Fathers and Sons: Ai Weiwei’s “1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows”

Given the harrowing experiences that the artist and activist Ai Weiwei has endured over his sixty-four years, it is a bit miraculous to see him exude mordant humor and calm determination throughout his lucid new memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows. Even in very dire circumstances, he seems able to engage—maybe even enjoy—one absurdity or another.
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei, New York, Crown, 2021; 400pp., $32 hardcover.
Writing about the eighty-one days he spent in