ON the profile page of his books, Li Ao is described as a writer, social commentator, historian and independent politician based in Taiwan.

But that doesn't begin to capture the spirit of the outspoken, flamboyant and sometimes outrageous 75-year-old who fiercely criticized the Taiwan government, served 10 years in prison and is widely known for his talk shows and frank discussion about sex and free speech.

"I'm good at criticizing others, however famous they are. Ordinary people criticize someone by calling them bastards, but I'm a master in proving how and why they are bastards," said Li, a defiant cultural figurehead.

Noted for his signature red jacket, he's a celebrity who is also known as the "crazy suer" for hounding people and filing numerous lawsuits. He's an elderly loose cannon. Wielding a stun gun and wearing a "V for Vendetta" mask, he sprayed tear gas in a legislative meeting in 2006 to stop debate on purchasing weapons from the United States.

A man of many facets and phases, he is also a novelist and meticulous scholar who sometimes goes through tomes and archives to arrive different meanings (as many as 200) of a phrase.

The mainland-born Li recently made his second trip to the Chinese mainland (his first was in 2005) and visited Shanghai and Hangzhou where he was closely shepherded around his hosts.

The reasons for his late August visit were multiple: to promote his latest book criticizing the United States; to see his 18-year-old son Li Kan (born when Li was 57) off to Peking University; and to visit the Expo.

Li, who has been married three times, was accompanied by his young wife, son Li Kan and 14-year-old daughter. The media called it the "2010 Li Ao Expo Trip," but the native of Harbin in Heilongjiang Province said, "Expo is just an excuse. I really want to spend some time with my family on a trip, before I get too old."

In Taiwan, he doesn't live with the family, but spends most of the time in his study nearby to "put in more efforts and focus on my writings."

He visits them only once a week. Li's family moved to Taiwan in 1949 when he was seventh grade; Li has never traveled outside the island, except to Chinese mainland.

To many Taiwanese young people, Li is the strange, crazy old man who always says something incomprehensible on TV or in newspapers.

From politics to sex

Li Ao's prolific writings over the years have challenged pretty much everything. He has produced essays, social criticism, history, biographies, literary research, poetry, novels and works that some critics have called pornographic.

During his recent trip in Shanghai, Li promoted his new book, "Yang Wei Mei Guo," or "To Make the USA Sexually Impotent," released in Taiwan in September. It's not yet out on the mainland.

"The nation of America is very sick right now. The name of the disease is political priapism -- it has been too strong in too many fields for too long, which will soon become a disaster for the world and itself," he told the mainland media.

"But it would violate my rule of humor to actually castrate it for priapism (prolonged male erection), so my solution is to render it sexually impotent."

The 600-page book is a laundry list of common criticisms of America -- for racking up an overwhelming financial debt to Asia, for trying to control others with its culture (movie, TV, pop and so forth), for manipulating and intervening in international affairs.

After digging through historical materials, he also criticizes each of the 43 American presidents, mostly for their personal (sometimes very obscure) failings, drawing a picture of morally questionable leadership. He cites Jack Kennedy's affair with Marilyn Monroe, Bill Clinton's with Monica Lewinsky, among others.

This isn't the first time Li links political and social affairs with sex. Talking and writing frankly about sex is another of his hallmarks that has made him famous.

In his much-reported Peking University speech in 2005, Li compared freedom of speech, a rather sensitive topic, to pornography, a taboo.

"The rate of rape dropped by 16 percent when Denmark first legalized pornography and the rate of Peeping Toms dropped 80 percent," he asserted at the time.

"It is just like freedom of speech. Just allow it, let them speak, let them criticize, let them curse, and it just becomes normal when everyone's doing it."

And this is not the first time Li has written a book to criticize a political figure or issue -- he wrote a scathing biography of Chiang Kai-Shek, among others.

Criticism is not his only field. His writings include serious academic research into ancient Chinese texts, biographies of celebrities, romantic poems and a sensational collection of letters to his newborn daughter, written while he was in prison. In 1990 he wrote "Sex Studies in China," a fun read drawing on sex references in ancient texts and sexual practices. One chapter is a celebrity biography of the phallus.

Taking advantage of his visit, a mainland publishing house recently rolled out a collected edition of his works, gathering his 40 books. An early work that made him famous is "Monologue Against Traditions," a collection of 20 essays first published in 1963 in Taiwan and considered anti-establishment, anti-Confucian and generally disruptive to traditional behavior and social order. It was pretty much anti-everything.

It was banned in Taiwan for 24 years -- the ban fueled its huge popularity. It's now widely available.

In the book, Li challenged the hierarchy and bureaucratic system; blind obedience to authority; and traditional notions about love, sex and marriage. Flowers should be plucked when they are most beautiful, he said in a poem; love is transitory and cannot be guaranteed; each lover gets a little bit of his love.

His defiance and rebellious arguments, supported by abundant references from ancient texts, won him instant fame, especially among young people.

Another best-selling novel, "Mountaintop Love," was banned before he even completed it in 1987. It was not published until 2001, when he completed the frank fiction containing many sexually explicit scenes. In the beginning it involves the male protagonist and his mistress, and 20 years later he's involved with her daughter.

The ending is unresolved, leaving readers to wonder whether the woman's daughter was his own daughter as well.

"Those with pure hearts will read the book and become saints while those with dirty minds will consider it pornography," he wrote on a single page before the preface.

Before returning to Taiwan, the master said, "I probably won't come back again since I'm too old, but I will never stop writing."