Oracle Bones

Peter Hessler is a correspondent for the New Yorker and a contributor to National Geographic. He is the author of River Town, winner of the 2001 Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize. Raised in Columbia, Missouri, he now lives in Beijing.

“A remarkable travelogue documenting aspects of a country still little understood.” — Kirkus (starred review)
“Everyone in the Western world should read this book.” — Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
“Hessler has written a fascinating and frequently moving account of life in modern China.” — Booklist
“A brilliant observer with a novelist’s ear for character and dialogue, Hessler is both fascinating and funny.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Wonderful. . . . Intimate. . . . The book reads like a really good novel.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Insightful. . . . Hessler is a wry and witty writer who manages to bring humor even to tense situations.” — Christian Science Monitor
“Engaging. . . . Acutely observed, moving, frequently funny and a perspicacious X-ray of China’s zeitgeist.” — South China Morning Post
“An extraordinary, genre-defying book. . . . Beautifully constructed. . . . Hessler’s reportage is vivid.” — Nigel Richardson, The Daily Telegraph