With publication of Goldman Sachs Conspiracy, the author, Li Delin, becomes a serial Goldman basher. His previous book, which made a similar splash among Chinese readers, is titled Eliminate All Competitors -- How Goldman Sachs Wins Over the World. As the AP points out, Li has a flair for flashy, animalistic Goldman characterizations in the spirit of Rolling Stone reporter Matt "Vampire Squid" Taibbi. One passage in Goldman Sachs Conspiracy reads, "Like a fox chewing a bone, Goldman Sachs knows the rules of the game and when to go for your neck." And: with the "cruel character of a Manchurian tiger, the group creeps around the world, like a veteran hunter stalking its prey, when it smells blood it pounces!"

There's a growing perception in the Chinese press that Goldman behaves like the multispecies phantasm Li and Taibbi say it is. In their eyes, Goldman has been vampiring, chewing and hunting its way around China, underwriting high-profile initial public offerings and investing in upstart firms that would later blossom into rapid growth. Less-rapacious critics would probably see this behavior as the normal conduct of a powerful international business, but why split hairs when there are books to sell?