The book man brought this book (along with a bag of others) to our house Thursday night. Thanks to Ned's amazing people skills, he has no trouble befriending strangers on the street, even when he doesn't even speak their language. The book man is one of those strangers who loves Ned so much, he invites us to dinner at his house, gives us rides on his cart when he sees us, and brings us awesome books in English FOR FREE to our house. His profession is a road side book seller. It's got to be a tough gig. He gave me this book, Wolf Totem, and said last year he sold over 2,000 copies. We gave him 4 or 5 books we'd already read as an exchange.
So, I've been hooked on this book Wolf Totem since Thursday. I put aside the Genghis Khan book I was reading, and now my thoughts are all about the Mongolian people, the blessing of wolfs, and about the Mongolian God Tengger--and how they are all inter-connected. This book takes place during Mao's cultural revolution when young, intellectuals were sent into the rural places to be "rurally educated" and to influence rural people out of "backwards thought and old superstitions." A Chinese student is an apprentice in a Mongolian village in Inner Mongolia and learns about the lives of nomadic people, and focuses most intently on the wolf. I am loving this book, and have already learned a lot.
In exchange for giving us free books, the book man wants me to read them, and if I think they are good, take them to class and encourage my students to buy them from him. Quite a business man, I do say. Wolf Totem, will definitely be one I bring to class.
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