River Town - by Peter Hessler (Paperback)

About the Book

In the tradition of "Iron & Silk" comes a powerful memoir about a young American teacher in the Peace Corps living in the small Chinese city of Fuling as it navigates increasing waves of cultural and social upheaval. Maps.

Book Synopsis

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 Quotes

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