Discount used books
FIND BOOKS:


0520215982
Stock photo. Cover may not represent actual copy or condition available.

Spider Eaters

A Memoir

by Rae Yang


ISBN: 0520215982
ISBN-13: 9780520215986
Format: Paperback

Customer Reviews

Review this book!

Media Reviews

"Yang is an impressive writer whose stirring memoir makes an important contribution to the growing mountain on Mao's revolution and legacy."    -- Marya Grambs

   -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Univ of California Pr
Published date: 1998
Size: 6.25 x 9.25 inches
Weight: 1.05 pounds
Pages: 312

Publisher's Notes

Spider Eaters is at once a moving personal story, a fascinating family history, and a unique chronicle of political upheaval told by a Chinese woman who came of age during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution. With stunning honesty and a lively, sly humor, Rae Yang records her life from her early years as the daughter of Chinese diplomats in Switzerland, to her girlhood at an elite middle school in Beijing, to her adolescent experience as a Red Guard and later as a laborer on a pig farm in the remote northern wilderness. She tells of her eventual disillusionment with the Maoist revolution, how remorse and despair drove her almost to suicide, and how she struggled to make sense of conflicting events that often blurred the line between victim and victimizer, aristocrat and peasant, communist and counterrevolutionary. Moving gracefully between past and present, dream and reality, the author artfully conveys the vast complexity of life in China as well as the richness, confusion, and magic of her own inner life and struggle. Much of the power of the narrative derives from Yang's multi-generational, cross-class perspective. She invokes the myths, legends, folklore, and local customs that surrounded her and brings to life the many people who were instrumental in her life: her nanny, a poor woman who raised her from a baby and whose character is conveyed through the bedtime tales she spins; her father; her beloved grandmother, who died as a result of the political persecution she suffered. Spanning the years from 1950 to 1980, Rae Yang's story is evocative, complex, and told with striking candor. It is one of the most immediate and engaging narratives of life in post-1949 China.

Other Editions

Similar books


0060193328
First They Killed My Father
by Loung Ung

"This is a harrowing, compelling story. Evoking a child's voice and viewpoint, Ung has written a book filled with vivid and unforgettable details. I lost a night's sleep to this book because I literally could not put it down, and even when I finally did, I lost another night's sleep just from the sheer, echoing power of it." -- Lucy Grealy, author of Autobiography of a Face From a childhood survivor of Cambodia's brutal Pol Pot regime comes an unforgettable narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit. Until the age of five, Lounge Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. While her beautiful mother worried that Loung was a troublemaker -- that she stomped around like a thirsty cow -- her beloved father knew Lounge was a clever girl. When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung's family fled their home and moved from village to village to hide their identity, their education, their former life of privilege. Eventually, the family dispersed in order to survive. Because Lounge was resilient and determined, she was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, while other siblings were sent to labor camps. As the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia,destroying the Khmer Rouge, Loung and her surviving siblings were slowly reunited. Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother, the vision of the others -- and sustained be her sister's gentle kindness amid brutality -- Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.

47700294210
The Lone Samurai
by William Scott Wilson



1853672394
A Face Like a Chicken's Backside
by J.P. Cross



0803237308
Macadam Dreams
by Roger J. Porter



0879058633
Wilderness Journals of Everett Ruess
by W.L. Rusho

I loosed the burros across the rivulet, and had a glorious bath while the sun was sinking behind a saffron cloud. I had a fire and some supper while the sun set, and thanked my soul profusely and unrestrainedly for such beauty and delight". Driven to the beauties of Nature, yet both enraptured and tormented by what he saw and felt, young Everett Ruess wandered alone through the High Sierras and across the scenic deserts of the Four Comers region. He made forays during warm seasons of the year beginning in 1930. Then in late 1934, not yet twenty-one years old, he mysteriously disappeared from the Escalante Canyon area of southern Utah, and was never seen again. While most of his lyrically written, essay-type letters have been made public in Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty (Gibbs Smith, Publisher), his only existing journals -- for 1932 and 1933 -- have never before been published. These journals were his companions, a place where he confided his joys, his regrets, his complaints, and his aspirations, as well as some exciting adventures. They also provide us with insight into Everett's deeper feelings toward the complexity, the frustrations, as well as the beauty of life.

HACKER SAFE certified sites prevent over 99.9% of hacker crime.

Ready to buy this book?

Below are all of the copies of 0520215982 we currently have available for purchase, sorted by lowest price first. If you would like to refine your search, use the advanced options in the search box above.
1) "Spider Eaters: A Memoir [Paperback] (Qty: 40)
Yang, Rae

"superb, crisp, clean, unread paperback with some light shelfwear to the covers and a remainder mark to one edge - VERY NICE!" (more information)

Offered by Midtown Scholar Booktore (United States)
Price: $10.70
Add to cart 
2) SPIDER EATERS
YANG, Rae

Berkeley: University of California, 2005 285 pp. Reprint. Multiple b/w photos. Very light edge and corner wear.. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 6" x 9". (more information)

Offered by M. Kettner and Son, Booksellers (United States)
Price: $14.00
Add to cart 
3) Spider Eaters: A Memoir
Yang, Rae

California, 1997. Softcover. Book is AS NEW; tight and crisp; wraps and manuscript pages are bright; spine is smooth; manuscript text has no markings. (more information)

Offered by Be Bop Bookshop (United States)
Price: $20.00
Add to cart 
4) Spider Eaters: A Memoir (Qty: 5)
Rae Yang

University of California Press, 1998-11-10. Paperback. New. Brand New. In Stock. Order Now. Ship from CA, IN, PA, OR, TN and FL. Over 600,000 CD/DVD, Books and bibles. Free tracking with every order. (more information)

Offered by *** www.HarvardBooksellers.com *** (United States)
Price: $38.69
Add to cart 
5) Spider Eaters: A Memoir
Rae Yang

Paperback. Brand New, Never Used, Perfect Condition. Orders take 5-7 days to process and ship. (more information)

Offered by PapaMedia.com (United States)
Price: $39.95
Add to cart