When I wrote about Peter Hessler yesterday, I had not actually realized that he just became a MacArthur Fellow as of two days ago! What's more - I read that he is going to the Middle East and he's planning to stay there for about five or six years. He and his wife (who also wrote about China, and who graduated from Harvard) just had twin daughters. And now they will be moving to the Middle East!
He is listed as a "long form journalist" instead of a journalist or a writer on the MacArthur Foundation website. Indeed, he is different from Nicholas Kristof, who really WAS a jounalist based in Beijing reporting for the New York Times, although Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn also wrote several books together. What makes Peter Hessler's books fascinating is the incredibly detailed and personal narrative guided by an amazingly objective and informed mind. He does not agree with the stereotypical Americans on their view of China, but he totally understands where they come from. He also does not agree with the stereotypical Chinese on their view of America, but again he totally understands where they come from. And he often can crystallize his observations in language that seems utterly creative - indeed that's why he's been selected as a MacArthur Fellow!
I see that he's always going where others perhaps have not gone for one reason or another. If he wants to bring his signature narrative to write about the dangerous and tumultuous Middle East and learn Arabic as he learned to speak Chinese well, it is a daunting task. After all, it is a much more dangerous area with bombs going off occasionally.
Still, I guess this is where his passion lies. And it's great that his work is his passion.
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