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Foreword by Janet Yellen
Weijian Shan's Out of the Gobi is a powerful memoir and commentary that will be one of the most important books on China of our time, one with the potential to re-shape how Americans view China, and how the Chinese view life in America.
Shan, a former hard laborer who is now one of Asia's best-known financiers, is thoughtful, observant, eloquent, and brutally honest, making him well-positioned to tell the story of a life that is a microcosm of modern China, and of how, improbably, that life became intertwined with America. Out of the Gobi draws a vivid picture of the raw human energy and the will to succeed against all odds.
Shan only finished elementary school when Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution tore his country apart. He was a witness to the brutality and absurdity of Mao's policies during one of the most tumultuous eras in China's history. Exiled to the Gobi Desert at age 15 and denied schooling for 10 years, he endured untold hardships without ever giving up his dream for an education. Shan's improbable journey, from the Gobi to the "People's Republic of Berkeley" and far beyond, is a uniquely American success story - told with a splash of humor, deep insight and rich and engaging detail.
This powerful and personal perspective on China and America will inform Americans' view of China, humanizing the country, while providing a rare view of America from the prism of a keen foreign observer who lived the American dream.
Says former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen: "Shan's life provides a demonstration of what is possible when China and the United States come together, even by happenstance. It is not only Shan's personal history that makes this book so interesting but also how the stories of China and America merge in just one moment in time to create an inspired individual so unique and driven, and so representative of the true sprits of both countries."
Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
Author's Note xiii
Prologue 1
Chapter 1 Man-Made Famine 5
Chapter 2 School Cut Short 21
Chapter 3 Storm of Revolution 35
Chapter 4 Turmoil Under Heaven 53
Chapter 5 Exiled to the Gobi 77
Chapter 6 Digging for Potatoes 93
Chapter 7 War Is Coming 109
Chapter 8 Repairing the Earth 123
Chapter 9 Battling Frozen Lake 137
Chapter 10 The Longest Night 159
Chapter 11 Unforgettable Movie Night 173
Chapter 12 Barefoot Doctor 185
Chapter 13 Brickmaking the Ancient Way 213
Chapter 14 Petition to Mao 237
Chapter 15 Pigs Don't Fly 249
Chapter 16 Half the Sky 267
Chapter 17 Desert Dreams of College 281
Chapter 18 Last Convulsions of the Revolution 305
Chapter 19 Roads to Rome 331
Chapter 20 Old Gold Mountain 345
Chapter 21 The People's Republic of Berkeley 379
Chapter 22 Ivy League Professor 403
Epilogue 437
Index 445
