One Billion: A China Chronicle

25 cm. From John K. Fairbank - The New York Review of Books The sympathetic yet critical balance of attitude that distinguishes this book no doubt reflects the authors' experience living together in China. . . .{When they} married, and had two children, they mixed collaboration and competition. By living in China as a family they were in an unusual position to explore nooks and crannies of the society around them. . . . {The Mathews's} book, which is really a journalists' effort (the best I know of) . . . captures that elusive but ubiquitous entity known as 'Chinese culture' or what makes theChinese tick. From Donald Klein - The Christian Science Monitor (Eastern edition) The Mathewses bring solid credentials to their journalistic tasks and to this new book on life in China today. For example, they often cite research that is usually known only to China-scholars. Yet, these findings are frequently tested and humanized by the Mathewses' reporting. . . . Much of the book deals with the great struggle to preserve the family (not the rights of the individual as in the West) against the encroachments of the seemingly all-powerfulstate. The reader comes away with a renewed respect for the dogged tenacity of the family structure. . . . 'One Billion' contains an unexpected bonus. The Mathewses were the first American correspondents to have young children in China, and thus the book is sprinkled with striking observations about childrenthat a childless journalist might never have noticed. China is too importantto be left to the specialists. Books such as 'One Billion'--thoughtful and very well written--deserve a wide audience. From Judith K. Davison - The New York Times Book Review Conscientious organization saves 'One Billion' from chaos, but just barely. The authors start with the first principles of Chinese life--primacy of human feelings, ties to family and village, connections to the past, pride in being Chinese. Then they 'wrap together . . . the weary contrasts between city and country life. . . . They are at their best describing the central fact of life in China--population pressure--and examining its consequences (underemployment, low productivity, inadequate housing, family planning, which extends tosterilization and abortion). The farther afield they range, the more confusing their account becomes. 'One Billion' is the authors' testament to 'the experience of a lifetime,' but the reader would have been more satisfied with less. ISBN: 039450982X