Reviews
"Michael Meyer's voracious curiosity has led him deep, deep into a vanishing world that other visitors and foreign correspondents almost all see only from a taxi window. He comes at it with a wide knowledge of history, a thirst for people's life stories, a novelist's ability to evoke a social universe, and an Arctic explorer's willingness to live through a sub-zero winter with little heat and the nearest communal toilet far down a snowy lane. This is a stunning, compassionate feat of reportage which will long endure."-Adam Hochschild, author ofKing Leopold's GhostandBury the Chains "It's rare that a writer truly lives a book, commits himself to the rhythms of a place, and turns research into something deeper. For the past two years, Michael Meyer has lived and taught in thehutongneighborhoods of Beijing; nobody writing in English knows this world as well as he does."-Peter Hessler, author ofOracle BonesandRiver Town "Nimbly told...Through his skillful weaving of his professional experiences with his intimate encounters with neighbors,The Last Days of Old Beijingis as much a chronicle of the physical transformation of the city as it is a tribute to the inhabitants of his beloved hutong."-Julie Foster,San Francisco Chronicle "Meyer is a graceful writer in full command of his voice, with a scrupulous eye for detail and a flawless sense of comic timing...There is a plainspoken eloquence to his account and a winning determination to subject himself to the same scrutiny he brings to bear on his neighbors and sources...An emissary from a nation that routinely junks its own past and starts anew, Meyer finds himself a champion of an unpopular cause."-Holly Brubach,T: The New York Times Style Magazine "This August, as we watch athletes gasping for breath in 'Bird's Nest' stadium beneath a gaudy international skyline, Meyer's message will sound especially plangent. All in all, his record of the dying ways of a city is an impressive feat. And while the phenomenon may be most extreme there, it's not just Beijing's problem. In a way, we're all living on New Ancient Culture Street."-Kate Sekules,New York Times Book Review "A charming memoir and a compelling work of narrative nonfiction about the city itself…Mr. Meyer writes sympathetically of his school, his fellow teachers and his eager pupils, who struggle with a system that rewards rote learning over comprehension. He punctuates his daily-life chronicle with historical vignettes, reaching back to China's imperial days but also capturing the transformations of postwar Beijing."-Ian Johnson, Wall Street Journal "Michael Meyer's impressive new book, The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed goes a long way toward illuminating some of the scenes that have come to symbolize early-21st-century China, at least before the unrest in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake…These images eloquently capture the sense of eras colliding, which is a core part of many China stories-including Meyer's own….Meyer remains acutely sensitive to Beijing's many, often contradictory changes: it has more architectural showpieces but harsher divides between rich and po∨ a greater sense of its global importance but a shrinking memory of its history; rapid development but a vanishing sense of the security that comes from looking out for one's neighbors. But his greatest strength is in depicting how such changes affect, for better and worse, the widow next door and the other memorable characters who populate this evocative tale.&am, "Meyer's powerful book is to Beijing what Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities was to New York City." - Publishers Weekly , Starred Review "An emissary from a nation that routinely junks its own past and starts anew, Meyer finds himself a champion of an unpopular cause."-Holly Brubach, T: The New York Times Style Magazine "His book reads like a love letter to the hutongs and to Old Beijing itself, a snapshot snatched before the scene disappears forever." -Rob Gifford, Slate Magazine "A charming memoir and a compelling work of narrative nonfiction about the city itself." -Ian Johnson, Wall Street Journal "The book...is a delightfully observed view of a vast part of Chinese society that barely was glimpsed during the recent Olympics, yet is fading away."-Kim Ode, Minneapolis Star Tribune "Heartfelt, understated, readable prose." - Utah Daily Herald "But his history of land development in Beijing, from the time of the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci to Mao to the present, and of attempts in Hanoi, Havana and other Communist cities to preserve their own sense of place, are just as compelling (and sad) to read." -Richard B. Woodward, New York Times Travel Section. "[A] substantive, smart book...Meyer knows the ins and outs of hutong history because he's one of the few Westerners to have ever lived in one." -Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air "In "The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed," longtime resident Michael Meyer eloquently portrays the madness of the city during this period." -Karl Taro Greenfeld, Los Angeles Times "Michael Meyer tells the story of Beijing's destruction from the perspective of one tiny hutong (narrow lane) neighbourhood to the south of Tiananmen Square where he taught in a school. A spiritedness shines through among his earthy neighbours, even in the face of what Mr. Meyer calls "the Hand", which, visiting always at night, paints the Chinese character for "destroy" on houses that are to be razed." - The Economist "All in all, his record of the dying ways of a city is an impressive feat." -Kate Sekules, New York Times Book Review, "Meyer's powerful book is to Beijing what Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities was to New York City."-Publishers Weekly(starred review), "Michael Meyer's voracious curiosity has led him deep, deep into a vanishing world that other visitors and foreign correspondents almost all see only from a taxi window. He comes at it with a wide knowledge of history, a thirst for people's life stories, a novelist's ability to evoke a social universe, and an Arctic explorer's willingness to live through a sub-zero winter with little heat and the nearest communal toilet far down a snowy lane. This is a stunning, compassionate feat of reportage which will long endure."-Adam Hochschild, author ofKing Leopold's GhostandBury the Chains"It's rare that a writer truly lives a book, commits himself to the rhythms of a place, and turns research into something deeper. For the past two years, Michael Meyer has lived and taught in thehutongneighborhoods of Beijing; nobody writing in English knows this world as well as he does."-Peter Hessler, author ofOracle BonesandRiver Town"Nimbly told...Through his skillful weaving of his professional experiences with his intimate encounters with neighbors,The Last Days of Old Beijingis as much a chronicle of the physical transformation of the city as it is a tribute to the inhabitants of his beloved hutong."-Julie Foster,San Francisco Chronicle"Meyer is a graceful writer in full command of his voice, with a scrupulous eye for detail and a flawless sense of comic timing...There is a plainspoken eloquence to his account and a winning determination to subject himself to the same scrutiny he brings to bear on his neighbors and sources...An emissary from a nation that routinely junks its own past and starts anew, Meyer finds himself a champion of an unpopular cause."-Holly Brubach,T: The New York Times Style Magazine"This August, as we watch athletes gasping for breath in 'Bird's Nest' stadium beneath a gaudy international skyline, Meyer's message will sound especially plangent. All in all, his record of the dying ways of a city is an impressive feat. And while the phenomenon may be most extreme there, it's not just Beijing's problem. In a way, we're all living on New Ancient Culture Street."-Kate Sekules,New York Times Book Review"A charming memoir and a compelling work of narrative nonfiction about the city itself…Mr. Meyer writes sympathetically of his school, his fellow teachers and his eager pupils, who struggle with a system that rewards rote learning over comprehension. He punctuates his daily-life chronicle with historical vignettes, reaching back to China's imperial days but also capturing the transformations of postwar Beijing."-Ian Johnson, Wall Street Journal"Michael Meyer's impressive new book, The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed goes a long way toward illuminating some of the scenes that have come to symbolize early-21st-century China, at least before the unrest in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake…These images eloquently capture the sense of eras colliding, which is a core part of many China stories-including Meyer's own….Meyer remains acutely sensitive to Beijing's many, often contradictory changes: it has more architectural showpieces but harsher divides between rich and po∨ a greater sense of its global importance but a shrinking memory of its history; rapid development but a vanishing sense of the security that comes from looking out for one's neighbors. But his greatest strength is in depicting how such changes affect, for better and worse, the widow next door and the other memorable characters who populate this evocative tale.&am, "Meyer lived in a Beijing hutong (narrow lane) for two years while he worked as a teacher, having gone to China as a Peace Corps volunteer. Eventually, he was given the nickname Teacher Plumblossom. Meyer was often asked by his neighbors if he knew when their neighborhood would undergo the same razing occurring everywhere in preparation for the Olympics. To show us what this threatened neighborhood is like, Meyer takes us into his life, masterfully describing the seasons, his home and courtyard, and his students and their parents. We meet his landlady, for instance, who runs her house with an iron grip while bringing him nourishing soup. He also adds a wonderful sprinkling of humor, pointing out the sign that greets him on the way to a latrine: "No Spitting No Smoking No Coarse Language No Missing the Hole." Ultimately, the neighborhood wasn't destroyed. Now tourists are brought there to see the real Beijing, and, reports Meyer, they rank the visit as a highlight over the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. All library collections that aim for a complete overview of China must add this unusual title."-Library Journal(starred review) "Michael Meyer's voracious curiosity has led him deep, deep into a vanishing world that other visitors and foreign correspondents almost all see only from a taxi window. He comes at it with a wide knowledge of history, a thirst for people's life stories, a novelist's ability to evoke a social universe, and an Arctic explorer's willingness to live through a sub-zero winter with little heat and the nearest communal toilet far down a snowy lane. This is a stunning, compassionate feat of reportage which will long endure."-Adam Hochschild, author ofKing Leopold's GhostandBury the Chains "It's rare that a writer truly lives a book, commits himself to the rhythms of a place, and turns research into something deeper. For the past two years, Michael Meyer has lived and taught in thehutongneighborhoods of Beijing; nobody writing in English knows this world as well as he does."-Peter Hessler, author ofOracle BonesandRiver Town "Nimbly told...Through his skillful weaving of his professional experiences with his intimate encounters with neighbors,The Last Days of Old Beijingis as much a chronicle of the physical transformation of the city as it is a tribute to the inhabitants of his beloved hutong."-Julie Foster,San Francisco Chronicle "Meyer is a graceful writer in full command of his voice, with a scrupulous eye for detail and a flawless sense of comic timing...There is a plainspoken eloquence to his account and a winning determination to subject himself to the same scrutiny he brings to bear on his neighbors and sources...An emissary from a nation that routinely junks its own past and starts anew, Meyer finds himself a champion of an unpopular cause."-Holly Brubach,T: The New York Times Style Magazine
