Modern China has seldom been better explained than by Peter Hessler in this imaginative and illuminating book, one that gives us a steering wheel-up view of the country's giddying economic and social transformation. -- Tim Butcher, author of BLOOD RIVER
Funny and brilliantly written. I have not read anything quite like it before on China. -- Chris Patten
[An] extraordinary survey of contemporary China . . . really quite unforgettable. * * Observer on ORACLE BONES * *
An extraordinary, genre-defying book . . . Beautifully constructed . . . Hessler's reportage is vivid. * * Daily Telegraph on ORACLE BONES * *
A brilliant tapestry of ancient and modern China. * * Spectator on Hessler's RIVER TOWN * *
A masterly, learned, entertaining, kind and endlessly fascinating panorama of life in 21st-century China. -- Jan Morris
Hessler's account superbly captures the spirit of a country. * * Sunday Times on Hessler's ORACLE BONES * *
Both entertaining and eye-opening. Hessler's enthusiasm for discovery is infectious . . . by the end, you too will have woken up to Chinese life beyond Beijing and may just find yourself pining for a road trip. * * Wanderlust * *
From Beijing to rural Sancha village, Hessler constructs a patchwork of experiences - from helping a village boy get hospital treatmnet to working in a bra factory. In the process, he draws a fond portrait of this crucial but enigmatic country. * * Lonely Planet Magazine * *
A former Beijing correspondent for the New Yorker Magazine and author of two previous books on China, he is well equipped to be our guide. -- Tatiana Lau * * Wall Street Journal * *
Through the lives of the ordinary Chinese he gets to know so well, he explains the country's complexity, insecurities and tentions better than many of the more analytical workd that have appeared in recent years. * * Economist * *
This warm-hearted book . . . is full of wonderful close observations . . . the broader picture is of a culture being simultaneously destroyed and created before our eyes . . . [Hessler] continues to take us to places that others never seem to reach. -- Kevin Rushby * * Guardian * *
