Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China

By Evan Osnos

*WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2014*

A young army captain who risked execution to swim from free-market Taiwan to Communist China.
A barber who made $150 million in the gambling dens of Macau.
The richest woman in China, a recycling tycoon known as the ‘Wastepaper Queen’.

Age of Ambition describes some of the billion individual lives that make up China’s story – one that unfolds on remote farms, in glittering mansions, and in the halls of power of the world’s largest authoritarian regime. Together they describe the defining clash taking place today: between the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.

Here is a China infused with a sense of boundless possibility and teeming romance. Yet it is also riven by contradictions. It is the world’s largest buyer of Rolls Royces and Ferraris yet the word ‘luxury’ is banned from billboards. It has more Christians than members of the Communist Party. And why does a government that has lifted more people from poverty than any other so strictly restrain freedom of expression?

Based on years of research, Age of Ambition is a stunning narrative that reveals China as we have never understood it before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vintage Digital
• Release date: Jun 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781448190607

Evan Osnos

Evan Osnos has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2008. His most recent book, Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury, was a New York Times bestseller. He is also the author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, which won the National Book Award. Previously, he was a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, where he shared two Pulitzer Prizes. He lives with his wife and children near Washington, DC.

Reviews for Age of Ambition

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really interesting book about aspiration, power, and truth in modern China, where advertising and shopping are relatively new and entertaining practices and where there are four aspiring college students for every place in a college, despite the fact that the number of colleges doubled in ten years. A lot of the book is about censorship: there is an estimated one propaganda officer for every one hundred Chinese citizens. People are aware of the censorship, so (as Zeynep Tufceki has also explored), the most useful workers try to diffuse protest by adding chaff, from jokes to ads, into discussions of fraught public issues. One result of the censorship: the “most successful film ever made about two of China’s national symbols, kung fu and pandas, had to be made by a foreign studio (DreamWorks), because no Chinese filmmaker would ever have been allowed to have fun with such solemn subjects.”

A lot of the book is also, and not unrelatedly, about corruption, which Osnos deems less visible than in other developing countries because it’s not a matter of small bribes sought by customs officers or street cops—but if you want good education or treatment at a public hospital, that’s another matter. And China’s great infrastructure projects have been the source of billions of dollars’ worth of theft. Instead of a hierarchical patronage system, corruption is anarchic—people grabbing what they can get. To deal with this, Beijing sometimes punishes local officials, but it also bans discussions of powerful officials’ wealth and briefly tried to ban companies from using the word “luxury” in names or ads. The result of censorship plus corruption has been pervasive distrust, including distrust of actually public-minded actions.

[pbjwelch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Author Osnos' theme is expressed right up front on page 5: "The Party no longer promises equality or an end to toil. It promises only prosperity, pride and strength." The remainder of the book elaborates upon this theme chronicling historically how China's Communist Party evolved to this point in order to stay in power, telling the stories of a variety of individuals who have bought into this scenario (or not), or who have remained constant in their desire for a more democratic society (or not), etc. "This book is an account of the collision of two forces: aspiration and authoritarianism" (p. 7).

"In 1978, the average Chinese income was $200; by 2014, it was $6,000" (p. 4). The success of those early achievers--those who responded quickly to Deng Xiaoping's carrot held out by the Party in return for the peoples' submission--has stirred a desire for success and wealth that Osnos compares to that seen in America's Gilded Age when every man "had his dream". In short, as the book unfolds, one finds oneself reading the story of how the Party offers "its people a bargain: prosperity in exchange for loyalty" (p. 34).

But does the Party hold up its side--does it ensure all forms of prosperity--including mental and physical health? As Osnos recites disaster after disaster and shortfall after shortfall (collapsing schools, tainted food products, incompetencies, graft, fraud, embezzlement) it appears that not all aspects of the three traditional Chinese desires (FuLuShou - Happiness, Wealth/Power, and Longevity) are being addressed.

The individuals that Osnos met, interviewed, and analyzes are amongst the best chapters and I found myself intrigued by many of the insider stories surrounding those names we only know through the media--Ai Weiwei, Hu Shuli, Lin Yifu, Liu Xiaobo, Gao Zhisheng, Han Han, Chen Guangcheng, etc. The mixture itself is fascinating--from heroes to gods with clay feet (and that choice is often left to the reader to decide).

And although a China-watcher for many years, Osnos revealed a number of aspects of today's China that had slipped by me--expressions such as a "chicken talking to a duck" or "maguan" ("to buy a government promotion"), or the story of the grass mud horse & river crab. Such examples brought home the truth of many of his points. And as a historian, I was especially pleased to see the weaving in of some of history's sharper images--for example, how the 14C Emperor and founder of the Ming Dynasty (Zhu Yuanzhang=Emperor Hongwu) "ordered thieving officials to be executed, skinned, and stuffed with straw so that their carcasses might be propped up like mannequins for visitors" (p. 249).

And what reader wouldn't love the story of Osnos' trip to Europe with a Chinese tour group? I found myself laughing out loud at how perfectly Osnos captured the scenes.

Age of Ambition is definitely a book to read if you're at all interested in modern China and want to decipher what we see and hear in today's media--both Chinese and foreign, sympathetic and not-so sympathetic. I added this book to my "armchair travel" list because in many ways it reflects the best of the genre in the footsteps of Paul Theroux. It was when it lost that sharpness that I found myself skimming ahead a few pages here and there, only to be caught back up in the storyline on the next page.

[alexyskwan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've always liked narratives in which there's an outsider looking in, and this is certainly one such book. Osnos had access to many people that I've never heard of, but seem to be quite important. And he also writes very well, with a compelling voice.

[annbury_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is illuminating and alarming book looks at where China finds itself today, after thirty years of what may the the most extraordinary sustained growth that any country has ever experienced. That is a very different place from the past, and a place where the future is very unclear. Osnos presents the way people are reacting to this through a series of vignettes, relying on a set of people he spoke with often. The impression is kaleidoscopic. As Osnos repeatedly makes clear, the super-rapid pace of social change has had many different effects, depending on who you are, what you want, and where in the system you find yourself. The overall impression he leaves is one of uncertainty: he does not pretend to know where China will go next (if indeed there is one "China", and if indeed it goes in one direction). A fascinating read.

[amelia_smith-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was in China for 6 months in 2004, teaching English at a rural college, then traveling. I don't think I met any big movers and shakers, but I did very much notice the proliferation of internet cafes and the frustration of dealing with the Great Firewall. I haven't really kept up with the news from China in the years since. This book gave me a chance look in on some of the big cultural changes that have happened over the past decade. The people interviewed here are a fascinating set of characters, and the tensions in Chinese society keep twisting along. I was happy to see that people are demanding more openness, and that there is some movement against corruption, and towards more equitable income distribution (though that could be a long time coming).

[muddyboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful in depth look at what is going on in contemporary China by a man who has lived there for several years. The subtitle says it all ( Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the new China). China has become very adept at capitalism but has inherited the problems of corruption and out of control materialism. While opening up to capitalism the country still struggles with censorship which continues unabated and religion which is making a big comeback there. If you want to know whats up in China - read this book!

[gwendydd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fascinating and informative look at the current political and economic situation in China, as well as the general Zeitgeist of its citizens. The past 40 years have seen impressive changes in the Chinese economy, which have had huge implications for culture and politics.

Not only does the book examine the economic changes, which are pretty easy to describe, but also the cultural changes. As their world is changing, the Chinese are trying to make sense of their new reality. That new reality is full of contradictions, so it is hard to find meaning in it. Thanks to the internet, the Communist Party is having trouble controlling the information people can access, which means that people are aware of the extreme corruption at every level of Chinese society. It is certainly a fascinating period in Chinese history, and it will be interesting to see how things play out.

I knew very little about China before I picked up this book, and it is totally accessible for someone without much knowledge of Chinese history.

[wrjensen382 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book, covering the rise of Chinese economy from 1990's to 2013, widespread corruption, and the Communist Party's repressive measures to suppress dissent, including extreme censorship, intimidation, violence, and other repressive tactics. The author briefly discusses the destruction of traditional beliefs, culture, and customs during the Cultural Revolution and the current situation, in which amorality prevails, although a few are turning to Bhuddism, Christianity, and other belief systems.

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book won the 2014 National Book Award prize for nonfiction and is the 32nd such winner I have read. The author lived in China from 2005 to 2013 and interviewed many prominent Chinese figures, including Han Han, Liu Xiaobo (Nobel Peace prize winner), Lin Yufu (World Bank chief economist), and many others. The Government spends much time repressing speech and commentary in publications and on the Internet. Its positon is that a good economy is the way to quell dissent and that freedom of speech would result in the Communist Party losing control of the country. The work to put the book together is impressive and it affords as good an insight into Communist China and life there in this century as I have ever read.

[ohernaes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book about how times are changing in China, well told through various characters. But I am not that interested so stopped midway through.
Beijing changed very much.
Incredible story of Justin Yifu Lin from Taiwan, who defected and swam to China, left family, became economist, got Chicago phd, and became Chief Economist of the World Bank.
Ref to Norwegian sinologist Mette Hansgård Hansen who saw teachers imparting individualism.
Story of girl Gung who went to school. Created dating site.
Funny about Chinese tourists in Europe.
Truth chapter-about the propaganda department. Propaganda important for Mao. We hear about the judgement of Mao having been 77% correct and 30% wrong. Under Deng: Studied western PR and spin policies to improve propaganda. Censorship, no mention of Tiananmen e.g. Freedom of speech and the press guaranteed in the constitution, "but regulations gave government broad powers to imprison editors and writers for "harming national interests" and other offenses (p. 122)". Parallel realities-public and real.
Recommended for those interested in China.
Economist Lin.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Age of Ambition looks at different aspects of modern Chinese culture - religion, sex, art, etc - through the lens of a number of famous people and incidents in recent Chinese history and shows changes underway. The common theme is that China is becoming more individualistic through personal ambition. The author is American but has lived in China for a while as a writer for the New Yorker and others. The book is long and generous but of course he has his entire corpus to draw on and therein is a problem because it sometimes feels scatter-shot jumping around back and forth. I had trouble following at times. There is a lot of good info here, I was particularly struck by how corrupt China is. Since there is no democracy and no elections, corruption doesn't occur by buying off voters and elected officials, instead corruption happens when people buy jobs and position through bribes, which is widespread. This goes up the food chain with the bribes getting progressively bigger until the very top party members have become among the richest people in the country. It's a simple system, very different from our own, but one in which the plutocrats at the top have a strong interest in maintaining while most people will never have an opportunity to get ahead. Thus there is a deep contradiction in this "age of ambition" that seems unsustainable. Overall a good book glad I read it.