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| River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Hessler
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $5.38
You Save: $9.57 (64%)
New (45) Used (35) from $5.38
Avg. Customer Rating:  165 reviews
Sales Rank: 10113
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060855029
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9780060855024
ASIN: 0060855029
Publication Date: May 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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| Customer Reviews:
 An engaging, authentic account January 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having lived in China and learned the language, I found this an engaging account with many insights. I was grateful not to find the exaggerations and distortions one often finds in China books jazzed up for Western readers. Well done.
 Amazing November 28, 2007
This is probably the best nonfiction book that I have ever read. It is an excellent story about one man's time in China with the Peace Corps. I would highly advise anyone to read this.
Good introduction to rural China November 22, 2007
Comments - This book was recommended reading prior to our joining a Tour
Group to Middle China. Very readable! A lot of information about Chinese
culture. We passsed Fuling on our Yangtze River Cruise. Hessler is a good
writer.
Insight into China November 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had a personal reason for reading Peter Hessler's book as I had visited Fuling in 2005 to see the orphanage where my daughter had came from. With the completion of the super highway from Chongqing, Fuling was no longer the isolated town as Hessler experienced. As most of Fuling is to sink below the waters of the rising Yangtse, I appreciated reading about the town where my daughter was born and will put the book in her momento box.
A Good Read October 22, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Almost nine years to the day after young Peter Hessler first set foot in Fuling, I floated by that remote city on the first night of a three-day Yangtze river cruise. I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. in order to catch a glimpse of the place I had been reading about for the past two weeks; so involved had I become in Peter Hessler's story. Finally, a vague assemblage of lights appeared upon the shore and I gazed silently at the town as it gazed silently back. Then, as quickly as it had emerged, it melted into and inky and airless night. In China, as anywhere, you often pass by these middle-of-nowhere towns and think, "I wonder what goes on there." After reading RIVER TOWN - TWO YEARS ON THE YANGTZE, I had my answer.
Hessler's tale is a compelling one, and - it must be said - told from the heart. Essentially, he fell in love with living in Fuling, a rustic town in the equally rustic province of Sichuan. He found college teaching, learning Mandarin (and slurry Sichuanese), and exploring the city, the hilly terrain around it, and the country beyond, to be nothing short of exhilarating and his zest for discovery is infectious. Although Hessler elaborates on much of the oddness that is China, he seldom does so in a disparaging tone. Except for some obtuse administrators and the occasional hostile bumpkin he encounters, the author treats virtually everyone he meets with respect and empathy. He's even tolerant of his assigned Chinese teacher in spite of her rather obvious intolerance and borderline disdain for foreigners and their deparaved ways. On occasion, Hessler can be cutting, but it is subtle; tactful.
RIVER TOWN is a good read. Having taught ESL to Chinese students for nearly a decade I found the subject matter to be highly relatable. Many critics have commented favorably on the writing style, but to be candid I found it somewhat stilted. I would posit that it's the story itself along with the enthusiasm in which it is conveyed that make this a quality book. There are many books on China, but for anyone thinking of teaching there this is certainly a good one to start with.
Troy Parfitt, author
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