About the Author

Ian Johnson is the Berlin Bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. In 2001, when he was the Journal’s Beijing correspondent, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Falun Gong. He lives in Berlin.

Reviews

“A captivating and an important study of what is happening on the ground in China today.” –The Christian Science Monitor

“Compelling. . . . Beautifully spare. . . . Johnson is to be commended for his sensitive rendering of his subjects.” –The New York Times

“Illuminating. . . . There is no better [book] on what life is like for ordinary uppity Chinese. . . . Johnson has not only lifted a corner of the curtain which covers China’s reality beyond its glittering eastern cities; he has drawn the whole curtain.” –The Times Literary Supplement

“Memorable. . . . Perhaps more than any other recent writer, Ian Johnson . . . captures [China’s] ‘slow-motion revolution.’ ” –The Baltimore Sun

“Elegant. . . . Through dogged reporting . . . we get an exciting inside view. . . . Wild Grass is journalism at its best.” –South China Morning Post

“A triumph. . . . Compelling. . . . A hopeful book. . . . The author’s reporting skills are phenomenal. . . . An invaluable aid for anyone . . . hoping to understand [China’s] economic and political struggles.” –The Washington Times

“A gripping tale of a very few ordinary people and their extraordinary courage in fighting for their rights against the Communist Party leviathan.” –The Washington Post Book World

“This year’s best general book on China.” –China Economic Quarterly

“Elegantly written. . . . Poignant. . . . Insightful, well-crafted. . . . Likely to find a broad readership.” –Boston Review

“Cause for hope for China’s future. . . . In vivid detail, [Johnson] recounts . . . cases . . . that show that individual Chinese at last have hope that the legal system can help.” –Foreign Affairs

“Gripping . . . taut, perceptive writing. . . . Reads in parts like a John Grisham legal thriller.” –Houston Chronicle

“Johnson is a wonderful storyteller. . . . His book is filled with evocative passages. . . . He captures the resilient spirit of many Chinese people.” –The Christian Science Monitor

“Johnson writes well, wielding a remarkably gentle pen against the grossest injustices or when describing the most remarkable instances of personal bravery. The people written about here could wish for no better chronicler.” –The Asian Review of Books

“This year’s best general book on China.” –China Economic Quarterly

Given modern China's turbulent history, it is no surprise that its current leaders value political stability, but they cannot fully control the change that their own policies have engendered over the past quarter century. In this minor gem, Johnson, a resourceful Chinese-speaking Beijing correspondent for U.S. newspapers in the 1990s, skillfully explores the possibilities for social and political change in China through the stories of several ordinary Chinese. With extraordinary courage, these men and women took on an authoritarian and corrupt political establishment. Employing lawsuits, publications, petition campaigns, and personal witness, Johnson's gallery of stubborn and persistent idealists mounted challenges to such unsavory aspects of contemporary China as illegal exactions by local governments, the destruction of Beijing's old city by greedy developers, and the savage repression of the Falun Gong exercise and meditation movement. They, says the author, may be the sprouts of an emerging civil society. This accessible, journalistic portrait of life in today's China is recommended for all libraries.-Steven I. Levine, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

"A captivating and an important study of what is happening on the ground in China today." -The Christian Science Monitor

"Compelling. . . . Beautifully spare. . . . Johnson is to be commended for his sensitive rendering of his subjects." -The New York Times

"Illuminating. . . . There is no better [book] on what life is like for ordinary uppity Chinese. . . . Johnson has not only lifted a corner of the curtain which covers China's reality beyond its glittering eastern cities; he has drawn the whole curtain." -The Times Literary Supplement

"Memorable. . . . Perhaps more than any other recent writer, Ian Johnson . . . captures [China's] 'slow-motion revolution.' " -The Baltimore Sun

"Elegant. . . . Through dogged reporting . . . we get an exciting inside view. . . . Wild Grass is journalism at its best." -South China Morning Post

"A triumph. . . . Compelling. . . . A hopeful book. . . . The author's reporting skills are phenomenal. . . . An invaluable aid for anyone . . . hoping to understand [China's] economic and political struggles." -The Washington Times

"A gripping tale of a very few ordinary people and their extraordinary courage in fighting for their rights against the Communist Party leviathan." -The Washington Post Book World

"This year's best general book on China." -China Economic Quarterly

"Elegantly written. . . . Poignant. . . . Insightful, well-crafted. . . . Likely to find a broad readership." -Boston Review

"Cause for hope for China's future. . . . In vivid detail, [Johnson] recounts . . . cases . . . that show that individual Chinese at last have hope that the legal system can help." -Foreign Affairs

"Gripping . . . taut, perceptive writing. . . . Reads in parts like a John Grisham legal thriller." -Houston Chronicle

"Johnson is a wonderful storyteller. . . . His book is filled with evocative passages. . . . He captures the resilient spirit of many Chinese people." -The Christian Science Monitor

"Johnson writes well, wielding a remarkably gentle pen against the grossest injustices or when describing the most remarkable instances of personal bravery. The people written about here could wish for no better chronicler." -The Asian Review of Books

"This year's best general book on China." -China Economic Quarterly