Oracle Bones

A New York Times–bestselling intimate and epic portrait of twenty-first century China from the acclaimed author of River Town—A National Book Award Finalist and a Best Book of the Year: Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Entertainment Weekly, New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Oracle Bones will firmly establish Mr. Hessler as one of the Western world’s most thoughtful writers on modern China. . . . A page-turner with great insight into Chinese society. . . . A richly humanistic portrayal.” —Wall Street Journal

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.

“Hessler has stepped off the treadmill of events-driven journalism to produce one of the most profoundly original books about China since, well, since his first book, River Town. . . . Everywhere, the book is shot through with sensitivity, insight, and rollicking good humor too.” —The Economist

“Serenely confident. Hessler has a marvelous sense of the intonations and gestures that give life to the moment. . . . Today’s China could have been made for him. . . . You will be hooked.” —The New York Times Book Review