The stories of the author’s former English language students who took such names as William Jefferson Foster, Nancy Drew and Emily Bronte are interesting and funny. The author does a great job of presenting the unique perspectives of the various Chinese people he encounters without being patronizing or judgmental, although he often puts a very funny spin on them.

I’ve always thought of China as a social monolith but that’s clearly not the case and it was interesting to me to know why I was so wrong. The story of Polat, the author’s Uighur friend, underscored the differences and struggles of the ethnic and religious minorities in China whom I never even knew existed.

Interwoven throughout the modern day stories of the author’s friends and associates is the mysterious tale of Chen Mengjia which builds slowly and completely through the Artifact chapters interspersed throughout the book. At first these chapters seem disparate but they ultimately come together beautifully.

The author’s story of the burglary and its aftermath in the first third of the book is genuinely the funniest passage I’ve ever read.

This book is the second in a trilogy and I’m reluctant to read the others because I enjoyed this one so much. Maybe it would have been better to read the first book (River Town) but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this book.

Update - I read River Town (the first in the series) and it’s excellent and worth reading first.