Becker succeeds in establishing the famine as one of the worst atrocities of all time (Richard Bernstein, the New York Times ). He does this despite the Chinese government's continued effort to cover up the incident, and by way of interviews with survivors [that] provide us with a chilling view of the famine as it was experienced by ordinary villagers (Paul Pickowicz, the Wall Street Journal ).
Ordinary villagers were willing to give interviews about the effects of the famine.