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Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S. Series) by Peter Hessler — book cover

Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S. Series)

by Peter Hessler
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Overview

A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people. In a narrative that gracefully moves between the ancient and the present, the East and the West, Hessler captures the soul of a country that is undergoing a momentous change before our eyes.

Synopsis

A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people. In a narrative that gracefully moves between the ancient and the present, the East and the West, Hessler captures the soul of a country that is undergoing a momentous change before our eyes.

Entertainment Weekly

“A brilliant observer with a novelist’s ear for character and dialogue, Hessler is both fascinating and funny.”

About the Author, Peter Hessler

A Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Peter Hessler studied English literature at Princeton and Oxford before heading to China as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1996 -- and his experience teaching English there has so far inspired two critically acclaimed books.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

With 1.4 billion inhabitants and radical disparities between its urban rich and rural poor, China defies facile generalization. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler, the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, tells the story of this burgeoning subcontinent through the lives of migrants, emigrants, and wanderers. In supple, lyrical prose, he renders human dimensions of this great nation in flux.

Nigel Richardson

"An extraordinary, genre-defying book. . . . Beautifully constructed. . . . Hessler’s reportage is vivid."

Entertainment Weekly

"A brilliant observer with a novelist’s ear for character and dialogue, Hessler is both fascinating and funny."

Booklist

"Hessler has written a fascinating and frequently moving account of life in modern China."

Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Wonderful. . . . Intimate. . . . The book reads like a really good novel."

Christian Science Monitor

"Insightful. . . . Hessler is a wry and witty writer who manages to bring humor even to tense situations."

South China Morning Post

"Engaging. . . . Acutely observed, moving, frequently funny and a perspicacious X-ray of China’s zeitgeist."

Entertainment Weekly

“A brilliant observer with a novelist’s ear for character and dialogue, Hessler is both fascinating and funny.”

Booklist

“Hessler has written a fascinating and frequently moving account of life in modern China.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Wonderful. . . . Intimate. . . . The book reads like a really good novel.”

Christian Science Monitor

“Insightful. . . . Hessler is a wry and witty writer who manages to bring humor even to tense situations.”

South China Morning Post

“Engaging. . . . Acutely observed, moving, frequently funny and a perspicacious X-ray of China’s zeitgeist.”

Book Details

Published
May 1, 2007
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
528
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780060826598

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