Age of Ambition

Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China

By: Evan Osnos

Narrated by: Evan Osnos, George Backman

National Book Award Winner, Nonfiction, 2014

A vibrant, colorful, and revelatory inner history of China during a moment of profound transformation.

From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy - or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don’t see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.

As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals - fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture - consider themselves "angry youth", dedicated to resisting the West's influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth?

Writing with great narrative verve and a keen sense of irony, Osnos follows the moving stories of everyday people and reveals life in the new China to be a battleground between aspiration and authoritarianism, in which only one can prevail.

©2014 Evan Osnos (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"Evan Osnos, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker (2005-2010) has written an outstanding book covering the political, economic, and cultural aspects of China. Narrating his own work is a wonderful addition as his command of Mandarin and in-depth knowledge of the country are apparent. Observations and interviews are crisp and timely whether the subject is a billionaire online matchmaker or the dissident Ai Wei Wei, who has many critical and pithy comments. Osnos's apt delivery of humor - both his own and Chinese - adds authenticity and fun. Most revealing are his observations during a European tour with a Chinese group. (He was the only non-Chinese person.) Osnos excels at getting people to open up; he then adds luster with his spirited delivery of their thoughts." (AudioFile)

Must read for anyone curious about modern China

A series of small tales that give a surprisingly amount of depth on the tale that is the evolution of modern China

Anecdotes as foundation

Osnos approaches an understanding of a tidal wave by sampling several teaspoons of seawater. As a way to get a grasp on one of the largest, fastest changes in society he uses a few choice examples. If you stick with him you will value his experience and observations. There will be an earlier point where you think it all too facile to be illuminating. The epilogue is from 2013, and it would really be great to get an update.

comprehensive reporting of diverse Chinese nation

a comprehensive explanation of life in China from various Chinese perspectives. excellent current events reporting contrasted and put in content with the nation's history

Quite bad actually

Title is my first reaction. Why?

- not much of a coherent story
- not much relevance to look at a few unique personas
- boring read: every persona will be arrested or get into trouble one way or another. There’s like 10-20 personas in the book. Not a very thrilling read obviously, in fact, rather dreadful.

Come back when you have a warrant!

This book describes the lives of a half dussin or so individuals in modern China. Collectively, these individuals embody the changes that have occurred in China since they transformed their economy to become more market oriented.

China’s transformation is almost unbelievable. I recently heard on the radio that in the past couple of decades more than one hundred thousand people have exited poverty, every day!!! Yes, that's right >100.000 a day. As will become clear, if you read this book, much of this progress has happened in China. In 1978, the average annual income in China was 200 dollars; today it is 6000 dollars, a 3000 percent increase. These are just numbers. But behind the numbers there is marked improvement in people's lives. More children go to school; sick people can afford to go to the doctor, and pay for the medicine that is prescribed; people buy and read more books; people can buy computers and, through them, communicate with the rest of the world; people can afford to go on holiday to see, and be influenced by, the rest of the world.

This is the bigger picture. Yet, this book is more about the Chinese individuals and how their fates have changed within the bigger picture. We get to meet the rich and famous English teacher who teaches his students to scream out English phrases (this is supposed to result in better learning). We also meet the woman who created one of the first online dating communities in China which now has an unbelievable number of followers. We also meet less fortunate individuals who have fought injustices in the system and, as a result, were ‘handled’ by the state. There are also some humorous stories in the book. The title of this review is actually a quote from a man who got a visit from the Chinese authorities. The man had clearly been watching too many American action movies and had forgotten that Chinese authorities are less concerned with rights of individuals. The book does not tell how the story ends, but I suspect that if enough people begin to think like this man Chinese authorities will be forced to begin to respect individual rights.

The feeling I got when reading the book was that people in China are becoming more like people in the west. When your life is not a constant struggle for survival, then maybe you begin to focus more on meeting the right one, how to earn more money, and making a name for yourself. As demonstrated by the man who wanted to see the warrant, people also become less inclined to accept poor working conditions. In that sense I think that economic growth is empowering the Chinese people. One remaining difference, between China and the west, seems to be that people have kept their faith in socialism. People seem to believe in a strong state in China, and after reading this book I personally became more agnostic on this point. Would China have seen the sane development if they had not been guided be a strong state?

In summary, this is a book which I am sure will give its readers food for thought. I did however feel that the book could have been a bit shorter. Even though I have a strong interest in China and its development I still occasionally caught myself fading away while I was reading. Still a good read though.

The Insider's Guide to Contemporary China!!

After living in China for four years I didn't think I would learn much from this book, boy was I wrong!

As a journalist with insider access and as a long-time China hand, Evan Osnos is uniquely qualified to share his insights on what is fast becoming the world's most dynamic country. In this work, he provides striking insights from personal interviews conducted with Chinese from all walks of life, from movers and shakers in China, like Hu Shuli, Han Han, Ai Weiwei and Li Yang, to more obscure individuals, such as nationalistic doctoral students, corrupt officials and aspiring poets moonlightling as street sweepers. At the same time, Osnos brings the listener up to date on most of the major events in China over the past 5 years and makes a solid analysis of why the country has thus far not complied with Western expectations of Democratic reform.

For me, learning more about well-known figures like Han Han and AI Weiwei was a treat. In China, one could frequently hear conversations about Ai's conviction or Han's latest post, but rarely could I find a local who knew much else about the disidents themselves. I had no idea that Ai became a disident after the government corruption revealed by the Sichuan earthquake I was also pleased to be introduced to some I had never heard about on campus such as the editor of Caixin Hu Shuli. Now I know one more source of Chinese news when I don't feel like reading propaganda.

It was also nice to get caught up on current events, I used to watch Chinese news every night, but only had a partial picture of what was actually going on due to censorship. Osnos filled me in on all the details I missed from the Tibet protests in 2007 to the fall of Bo Xilai last year.

The Narrator for most of the book (which is not Osnos!) is a wonderful reader, but I can only give him 4 stars due to his unreliable Mandarin pronunciation. True, he's lightyears beyond most narrators on Audible when pronouncing Chinese propper nouns but he tended to botch the phrases throughout the book. He also didn't do well with some of the names of major characters, such as his annoying habit of pronouncing Han Han as Haan Haan. This could have been overlooked if only Han wasn't mentioned multiple times every chapter. In short, if you are a fluent Mandarin speaker this narrator's occasional mistakes may bother you a little, but otherwise he was a fantastic choice for this production.

Really good!!

I am really glad I bought this book. Really fascinating stories and descriptions. Very well written. A Real good read

Fantastic

A must read for China watchers interested in a narrative other than East vs West. Great narration. As a non-Chinese speaker, this was a book better listened to than read.

A Real Look Into China

What made the experience of listening to Age of Ambition the most enjoyable?

I probably picked this book up in a sale and it sat in my library for months. I've visited China and my wife lived in Taiwan, so I find the topic interesting but the book seemed like a lot to chew. It wasn't! Major shame that it sat unread for so long.

A truly fascinating look at China. It wasn't a typical American look at China as a 'boogyman.' The author lived there for several years and was sincerely intrigued by the grand mix of culture, history, economics, government and most of all - the people of China.

There are several divisive issues in the country and Osnos gives a fair accounting of both sides - many times there are more than just two. Simple western judgments of the country and its people have new life when analyzed up close and in context.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Age of Ambition?

You will meet several Chinese throughout the book - found in every walk of life. While discussing censorship with one Chinese person, they state that at least they can count on being manipulated - citizens of other countries never know.

What about Evan Osnos and George Backman ’s performance did you like?

Backman was great. Enjoyed hearing him pronounce all the Chinese names.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - I needed a few breaks.

Any additional comments?

By far, I saved more clips and had more notes in this book than in any other. It lead me off in interesting tangents and encouraged my own research.

Insightful

An excellent assessment for anyone looking to understand more about the machinations of modern Chinese society.