Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780520266506)

Every year over 200 million peasants flock to China's urban centers, providing a profusion of cheap labor that helps fuel the country's staggering economic growth. Award-winning journalist Michelle Dammon Loyalka follows the trials and triumphs of eight such migrants--including a vegetable vendor, an itinerant knife sharpener, a free-spirited recycler, and a cash-strapped mother--offering an inside look at the pain, self-sacrifice, and uncertainty underlying China's dramatic national transformation. At the heart of the book lies each person's ability to "eat bitterness"--a term that roughly means to endure hardships, overcome difficulties, and forge ahead. These stories illustrate why China continues to advance, even as the rest of the world remains embroiled in financial turmoil. At the same time, Eating Bitterness demonstrates how dealing with the issues facing this class of people constitutes China's most pressing domestic challenge.

Author: Michelle Loyalka
ISBN-10: 0520266501
ISBN-13: 9780520266506
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 03/19/2012
Pages: 276
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.96lbs
Size: 8.35h x 5.84w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/30/2012 pg. 47
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2012
Shelf Awareness 03/30/2012
Choice 10/01/2012