Publisher Description

A New York Times Notable BookWinner of the Kiriyama Book PrizeIn the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society.Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.

Author Biography

Peter Hessler is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he served as the Beijing correspondent from 2000 to 2007, and is also a contributing writer for National Geographic. He is the author of River Town, which won the Kiriyama Prize; Oracle Bones, which was a finalist for the National Book Award; and, most recently, Country Driving. He won the 2008 National Magazine Award for excellence in reporting, and he was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2011. He lives in Cairo.

Review

?An atmospheric story of love and architecture in war-torn Finland and 1920s New York . Linger[s] in the memory.?Kirkus Reveiws

Long Description

A "New York Times" Notable Book Winner of the Kiriyama Book Prize In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society. Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, "River Town" is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.

Review Quote

'An atmospheric story of love and architecture in war-torn Finland and 1920s New York . Linger[s] in the memory.' Kirkus Reveiws

Description for Teachers/Educators

Hessler takes students on an unforgettable journey to a small village in China where he spent two years teaching English. What he discovers while in this remote village is far more than he ever thought possible. This is a very intimate and human look at a town's struggle to adapt to the modern world that surrounds it. "Charming and insightful. . . . Poignanthilarious. . . . Lively, intelligent. . . . You will learn a great deal about real life in contemporary China in River Town, and about how that vast country appears in the eyes of a sensitive, aware, rugged young American who keeps both his eyes and his mind open."--New York Times Freshman Common Read: College of Charleston

Details