Peter Hessler Appearing In San Francisco

Peter Hessler (China 1996–98) and his wife, Leslie T. Chang, will be speaking on the University of San Francisco Campus on Tuesday, February 23.  Peter will be discussing his new books, Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory, together with Leslie talking about Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, now out in paperback. The discussion will start at 5:45 in USF Lone Mountain Campus Room 100, (2800 Turk Blvd between Masonic and Parker.) The event is free and open to the public. For information and a reservation, call (415) 422-6357,  and tell Peter you’re a PCV…also buy the book. It is terrific!

For those of  you who are new to Peter Hessler, he was was the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker and a contributor to National Geographic.  Previously he had written for the Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Boston Globe, and the Wall Street Journal. He is best known for his two earlier books, his ‘Peace Corps book”  River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (2001), a Kiriyama Prize-winner, and Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China’s Past and Present (2006), a collection of journalistic stories he wrote while living in Beijing.

Peter’s wife, a journalist and writer in her own right, is Leslie T. Chang. Leslie lived in China for a decade as a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, specializing in stories that explored how socioeconomic change is transforming institutions and individuals. She has also written for National Geographic. Factory Girls is her first book.