Other Rivers

“Arguably the most famous contemporary American writer on China . . . Any book by Hessler about life in China would be fascinating enough, but as luck would have it, he arrived right before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic . . . Other Rivers is a valuable account of life in China during a tumultuous time.” —Asian Review of Books

“With the publication of Other Rivers: A Chinese Education, Mr. Hessler comes full circle and brings his blend of memoir and perceptive observation back to a classroom in Sichuan . . . Hessler came away from his sojourn this time with great faith in the young people of China, but also a sober conclusion: ‘Something fundamental about the system needs to change.’” —The Wall Street Journal

“The fourth book on China from an author and journalist who has long been one of its most astute and sensitive foreign observers . . . Though they are young, Hessler sees his students as ‘old souls.’ Like him, they possess a certain freedom from judgment that is among the many achievements of Other Rivers.” —Financial Times

“With a fluid pen and an eye for detail, Hessler chronicles three generations of Chinese students: his former students from Fuling, who are now middle aged; his current students at Sichuan University; and his daughters’ schoolmates. This recent history unfurls through the quotidian: work, homework, marriage, child-rearing. Yet the underlying transformations are no less profound.” —China Books Review Best Books of the Year

“In River Town (2001), Hessler described teaching English and learning Chinese in the remote town of Fuling. Back after 20 years, much has changed . . . Throughout, Hessler shares the words of his students—variously curious, skeptical, tired, and wise—in what is, at heart, a meditation on teaching and learning from one’s students.” —Booklist (starred)

“Hessler paints an expansive panorama of China . . . The result is an enthralling take on China’s remarkable progress and its downside.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Peter Hessler has written a wryly observed, deeply empathetic portrait of modern China, told through the lives of his Chinese students and his own daughters’ experiences at a local school. Hessler avoids sweeping conclusions, trusting that the country’s real story emerges from microhistories, everyday conversations and amusing glimpses into daily life. This is journalism at its most humane, and (especially for those of us who aren’t Sinologists) a perfect primer on what China is really like.” —Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

“Fascinating and engrossing. Other Rivers is an extraordinary work of foreign correspondence and memoir, drawn from a quarter century of direct and intimate observation. With deep sympathy, humor and seriousness, Hessler portrays several generations of Chinese lives in the throes of staggering social, political and economic transformations—and how their experience responds to and reflects on our own.” —Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families

“The hardest and most important challenge in writing about China is conveying the vivid individuality of the people who make it up. Peter Hessler does this wonderfully again. The students whose stories fill Other Rivers are funny but also super-serious, idealistic but also cynical, hopeful but also resigned—and in all ways memorable. They are China’s next generation, and we are fortunate to be able to meet them in this book.” —James Fallows, author of China Airborne and other books

“Beyond the headlines of strategic rivalry and military confrontation with China are countless stories of real people trying to live in a complex country . . . [Hessler] tells [students’] stories with empathy and affection . . . shines a valuable light on the reality of life in today’s China.” —​Kirkus​