It is one of those rare books -- concise and compelling, yet based on science. Certain to become a staple in first-year college curricula, The A Game will forever change students' lives.

    Slight of build, shy by nature, prone to fits of depression, the 28-year-old Beijing photographer was nonetheless at the forefront of Chinese artists' battle for creative freedom. Like his champion Ai Weiwei, Ren was controversial in his homeland and wildly popular in the rest of the world. He said, -I don't really view my work as taboo, because I don't think so much in cultural context, or political context. I don't intentionally push boundaries, I just do what I do.- Why? Because his models, friends, and increasingly, fans, are naked, often outdoors, high in the trees or on the terrifyingly vertiginous rooftops of Beijing, stacked like building blocks, heads wrapped in octopi, body cavities sprouting phone cords and flowers, whatever enters his mind at the moment. He denies his intentions are sexual, and there is a clean detachment about even his most extreme images: the urine, the insertions, the many, many erections. In a 2013 interview VICE magazine asked, -there are a lot of dicks ... do you just like dicks?- Ren responded, -It's not just dicks I'm interested in, I like to portray every organ in a fresh, vivid and emotional way.- True though that may be, the penises Ren photographed are not just fresh and vivid, but unusually large, making one wonder just where he met his friends. In the same piece, Hang also stated, -Gender isn't important when I'm taking pictures, it only matters to me when I'm having sex, - making him a pioneer of gender inclusiveness. Young fans still eagerly flock to his website, Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr accounts. His photographs, all produced on film, have been the subject of over 20 solo and 70 group shows in his brief six-year career, in cities as disparate as Tokyo, Athens, Paris, New York, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Vienna, and yes, even Beijing. He self-published 16 monographs, in tiny print runs, that now sell for up to $600. TASCHEN's Ren Hang is his only international collection, covering his entire career, with well-loved favorites and many never-before-seen photos of men, women, Beijing, and those many, many erections. We take solace remembering Ren's joy when he first held the book, shared by his long-time partner Jiaqi, featured on the cover.Text in English, French, and German

    As long as our mind is under our control, everything else is. That’s what The Mind Game is all about. It is not an average self-help book that preaches life-enhancing methodologies based on complex science or long philosophical verses. The book’s genius lies in its simplicity. It offers quick, actionable and instantly applicable tips that will help readers lead better lives - instantly. The book begins with five ultra-practical steps that will help readers master their emotions. Emotions are strange. They make us human. They make our lives real. They make us different from robots. Yet, many disasters in our lives result from uncontrolled emotions or because of emotional wounds from painful experiences. By helping readers master their emotions, this book aims at making them strong, enabling them to make rational decisions. Readers will be trained on how to feel, face, control and protect their emotions. They will also be enlightened on the importance of EQ and how they can upgrade it. The book then acquaints readers with techniques of analyzing people through effective questioning in routine conversations and understanding personality traits. By applying these methods, readers can develop fruitful relationships at work and home. The third section of the book deals with living better lives with lesser resources. Using famous examples of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, readers are made to understand the value of simple living and high thinking. It will also help readers make the best first impressions and use non-verbal communication to their benefit. Next, readers are led into understanding the secret of happiness. It first explains how readers can attain divine happiness, how to tackle stress and depression and how to become happy in a jiffy. The book devotes an entire section to anger. To know more grab your copy today!

    Comments and anecdotes by the artist and the editors, along with testimonials from graphic-art luminaries Dave Stevens, Bruce Timm, and Bernie Wrightson, flesh out this portrait of the artist.