Review
Readers will already be looking forward to the next installment. — Kirkus (Starred Review)
“Da Chen’s voice comes from the soil of China...his exuberance for life and its possibilities set him apart from others in the genre.” — Los Angeles Times
Da...is certainly likable. And his transformation from country boy to big city college professor moves briskly and entertainingly along. — San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
“A story about suppression, humiliation, vindication and, ultimately, triumph.” — New York Times Book Review
“Da Chen’s latest book confirms that he is an extraordinary individual. Chen’s immigrant success story is exceptional, for he has realized the American Dream in all its glory.” — USA Today
“What makes this vivid coming-of-age story so worthy is not so much the lively and amusing anecdotes...but a bracingly wry self-awarness that gives traction to a story that could be clyoign but is instead funny, exciting, and moving.” — New York magazine
From the Back Cover
Teenager Da Chen gathers soil from the riverbank near his village before he leaves to attend university in Beijing. Those grains bear witness to his past and contain the now silent sounds of the river. Later, spilled onto the dry earth of the North, they will merge two parts of Da's life, as does the second volume of his lyrical trilogy of memoirs.
Beginning with his first train ride to Beijing from his farm, we rumble along with him in the overcrowded and disease-ridden car to the university. Here the author faces a host of ghastly challenges, including poor living conditions, lack of food, and suicidal roommates. Undaunted by these hurdles and armed with a dogged determination to learn English and "all things Western," he must compete with every other student to win a chance to study in America -- a chance that rests in the shrewd and corrupt hands of the almighty professors. In a richly textured tale -- by turns poetic, ribald, hilarious, and heartbreaking -- Da keeps his indomitable spirit, but will he be any closer to attaining his goal?
The bestselling author of Colors of the Mountain, Da Chen gives us an engrossing, gloriously written coming-of-age saga that chronicles a remarkable journey -- a travelogue of the heart.
About the Author
Da Chen is the author of Colors of the Mountain, a New York Times bestseller; Sounds of the River: A Young Man's University Days in Beijing; Brother; and two books for children, Wandering Warrior and China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution. He grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution and now lives in New York.
