With his Beijing dialect, vivid descriptions and humorous style, Sun Rui's works make readers laugh and think at the same time. Shen Haobo, a book-promotion manager, said Sun combined the best qualities from other authors. He shares his humor with Wang Shuo, though he is not so crafty; he is wise like Wang Xiaobo, but less showy; he has the boldness of Shi Kang, a popular modern Chinese writer whose novel Loafing Around (Huang Huang You You) is sometimes described as being a bit like Catcher in the Rye, but he is less decadent.

No one knew Sun until he published his hit book Waiting in the Rye (Cao Yang Nian Hua) in 2004, a novel describing modern university life. Only a few months after the launch of the book, Sun had become such a big star that he was listed as one of the country's top five idols.

A Waiting in the Rye reader commented, "The writing of Sun Rui is not so mo lei tau"--referring to a type of nonsensical humor embodied by Hong Kong director Stephen Chow--"as Han Han's or so gorgeous as Guo Jingming's. But it is inornate and sincere, and will not be forgotten after reading."

(Translated by LIU FANGFEI)