Peter Hessler: Readings on the Web

Authors

Date of this Version

10-26-2009

Document Type

Article

Citation

October 26, 2009 in The China Beat http://www.thechinabeat.org/

Comments

Copyright October 26, 2009. Used by permission.

Abstract

Peter Hessler will be speaking about his new book at the University of California, Irvine on February 16 (mark your calendars, Southern Californians!). Hessler will be in the midst of a tour for the book, Country Driving. We noticed a few readings by and about Hessler this week, and thought, in honor of his upcoming visit, to share them with you.

1. This week’s New Yorker features a piece by Hessler on Lishui, a Chinese city that has a booming business in export artwork. Click here for a slide show narrated by Hessler. (For another take on Chinese copies/forgeries in historical perspective, seethis piece from ARTnews; hat tip Danwei. And MIT’s Visualizing Cultures site discusses the “narrow world of the artists of the Canton trade,” here and an imagehere.)

2. We believe this starred review at Publisher’s Weekly may be the first English-language review of Hessler’s forthcoming book.

3. The book is already out in German (under the title Über Land), and is getting attention in the press in Germany, such as this review.

4. Because it is already out in German, the book could be displayed at theFrankfurt Book Fair (see page 152).

5. And, in case you aren’t familiar with Hessler’s earlier work, here is a link to an interview from this past summer with Global Times, which discusses both his earlier work as well as the forthcoming book.