These snapshots of bygone days gathered in Pieces of China very much resonate in the present. Told in a deceptively breezy voice by Peter Lighte - unlikely Ming scholar and unlikelier banker - his stories illuminate shadows of the Cultural Revolution, the hilarity of bureaucracy, the complexity of relationships and the daily adventures of a young man who thinks he somehow fits into a world beyond the looking glass.
All profits from Pieces of China will be donated to Half the Sky, a foundation which seeks to bring a caring adult into the life of each orphan in China - www.halfthesky.org.
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By sallie gouverneur
Dec 26, 2009
Unexpected and delightful from beginning to end, a rare western individual's portrait of China in the early 1980s, told with humor, telling details, affection for the Chinese people and dismay at the politics of post-Mao China. Cameo appearances from the likes of Ronald Reagan and the nurse who helped birth the author--encountered in Kaifeng 30 years later--anchor the account in time and place, but only begin to suggest the unusual opportunities and actions of the book's author and main character.
