{"product_id":"9780374535278","title":"Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eAge of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Evan Osnos\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction finalist\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the 2014 National Book Award in nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e As the Beijing correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition \u003c\/i\u003eprovides a vibrant, colorful, and revelatory inner history of China during a moment of profound transformation.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy-or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don't see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e, Osnos describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party's struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals-fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture-consider themselves \"angry youth,\" dedicated to resisting the West's influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Writing with great narrative verve and a keen sense of irony, Osnos follows the moving stories of everyday people and reveals life in the new China to be a battleground between aspiration and authoritarianism, in which only one can prevail.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eAn Economist Best Book of 2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the bronze medal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e for the Council on Foreign Relations’ 2015 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eArthur Ross Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In the pages of the New Yorker, Evan Osnos has portrayed, explained and poked fun at this new China better than any other writer from the West or the East. In \u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition,\u003c\/i\u003e Osnos takes his reporting a step further, illuminating what he calls China's Gilded Age, its appetites, challenges and dilemmas, in a way few have done.” —\u003ci\u003eJohn Pomfret, Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e is… a riveting and troubling portrait of a people in a state of extreme anxiety about their identity, values and future, [and] a China rived by moral crisis and explosive frustration.” —\u003ci\u003eJudith Shapiro, New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“For those new to China, Mr Osnos beautifully portrays the nation in all its craziness, providing a ringside seat for the greatest show on earth.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Beautifully written ... an absolute must-read.” —\u003ci\u003eEdward Steinfeld, Harvard Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“China's Gilded Age has been every bit as fascinating, colorful and tragic as our own -- and [Osnos] offers an engrossing account of it… [He] understands the depths of the transformations, the complexity of the contradictions, and the fragility of the overall enterprise.” —\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Evan Osnos ... has put his keen insight and intrepid research skills to use in his exploration of the internal intellectual and spiritual infrastructure of China's rise.” —\u003ci\u003eDan Blumenthal, The National Interest\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Osnos] adeptly chronicles… China's 35-year journey from poverty and collective dogmatism to a dynamic if cut-throat era of competition, self-promotion and materialism.” —\u003ci\u003eJulie Makinen, Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e [is] eloquent and comprehensive…” —\u003ci\u003eJonathan Mirsky, New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e is a splendid and entertaining picture of 21st-century China…” —\u003ci\u003eMichael Fathers, Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Evan Osnos gives us twenty-first-century China the way the best American journalists gave us the Gilded Age--he introduces us to outsized characters, tells tales of aspiration, success, and defeat, rakes the muck of corruption and repression, and captures the tremendous energy, as well as the darker impulses, of a society in the throes of a historic transformation.” —\u003ci\u003eGeorge Packer, author of The Assassins' Gate and The Unwinding\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The very hardest thing to convey about modern China is the combination of hope and despair, idealism and crassness, coordinated mass action and chaotic individual scheming, that you encounter each day. Evan Osnos has captured all parts of this disorienting 'reality,' but he has done so much more. Beautifully written, humane but critical-minded, funny on every page, \u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e offers a better understanding of China's process of 'becoming' than most people could ever gain by living there. China veterans and amateurs alike will find it an illuminating and delightful read.” —\u003ci\u003eJames Fallows, author of China Airborne\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“How often have travelers asked: 'What is the one book about China that I should read before I depart?' Alas, for years I have had no good answer to this question. But now, Evan Osnos has provided a stellar candidate. Wonderfully engaging, readable and informative, this vivid tableau of actors from all walks of Chinese life goes a long way to helping us make sense out of the often confusing complexity that is today's China.” —\u003ci\u003eOrville Schell, coauthor of Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The best book on China I've ever read. Witty, indispensable, and often  moving. I look forward to stealing Evan Osnos's wisdom and passing it off as my own for years to come.” —\u003ci\u003eGary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure and Super Sad True Love Story\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The rise of China is the biggest story of the past twenty-five years. Evan Osnos captures the country in all its striving, thunderous diversity, through a narrative that moves, provokes, and makes us laugh. \u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e is a marvel of great reporting, careful thinking, and powerful writing.” —\u003ci\u003eDexter Filkins, author of The Forever War\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“For most of a decade, Evan Osnos has been one of the most energetic, skilled, and thoughtful observers of China. Whether he's accompanying Chinese tourists to the Best Western in Luxembourg or watching Ai Weiwei blur the lines between performance and protest, Osnos is always engaging. This is a wonderful book.” —\u003ci\u003ePeter Hessler, author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze and Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If you have time to read only one book about China today, read this one. Woven from vignettes of Chinese life at many different levels, it provides unerring insights into what makes the Chinese the people they are while wearing its learning so lightly that the narrative never flags. It should be in every tourist's baggage and every diplomat's library.” —\u003ci\u003ePhilip Short, author of Mao: A Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShort-listed National Book Awards - Finalist (2014), Long-listed Washington Post Best Books of the Year (2014), Short-listed Helen Bernstein Book Award - Nominee (2015), Winner National Book Awards - Winner (2014), Long-listed National Book Awards - Longlist (2014), Short-listed Guardian First Book Award - Nominee (2014), Long-listed Christian Science Monitor Best Books of the Year (2014), Long-listed The Economist Magazine Books of the Year (2014), Long-listed Apple iBooks Best of the Year (2014), Short-listed Pulitzer Prize - Finalist (2015), Long-listed Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year (2014)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374535278\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40621740785870,"sku":"9780374535278","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_1b2149ca-cd89-4b56-a6ee-8db9218e1430.jpg?v=1643191327","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374535278","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}