“Written with a scholarly precision that revels in the nuances of Mondrian’s remarkable life and work, Weber’s book offers an immersive, if lengthy, biographical experience for lovers of both art history and modernism.”
“In Mondrian, the monk of modernism finally gets the flesh-and-blood portrait he deserves.”
“Some of the material here is inspiring, some takes excursions into darkness, but Barrat tackles both aspects of his subject with empathy and intelligence, relating human stories that need to be told. An important, well-considered contribution to a critical topic.”
“Nicholas Fox Weber’s biography of Piet Mondrian is as fastidiously passionate as his subject’s paintings. How wonderful it is to read of Mondrian’s gaiety and zest.”
“It will be the indispensable handbook on the subject of suicide in the 21st century. And it will save lives”
“Hessler shares the words of his students—variously curious, skeptical, tired, and wise—in what is, at heart, a meditation on teaching and learning from one’s students.”
“…an expansive panorama of China, from poignant descriptions of the depopulation of the Fuling countryside brought about by China’s rapid industrialization to the grim worldview promulgated at his daughters’ school.”
“This is journalism at its most humane, and (especially for those of us who aren’t Sinologists) a perfect primer on what China is really like.”
“…an extraordinary work of foreign correspondence and memoir, drawn from a quarter century of direct and intimate observation.”
“The hardest and most important challenge in writing about China is conveying the vivid individuality of the people who make it up. Peter Hessler does this wonderfully again.”