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Alec Ash

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Website

http://alecash.net

Twitter

alecash

Genre

Nonfiction

Member Since

March 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/alecash

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Alec Ash is a writer and journalist in Beijing, author of Wish Lanterns, literary nonfiction about the lives of six young Chinese published by Picador in 2016.

His articles have appeared in The Economist, Dissent, BBC, Prospect, Foreign Policy and elsewhere. He is a contributor to the book of reportage Chinese Characters and co-editor of the anthology While We're Here.

Born in England, Ash studied English literature at Oxford, where he edited The Isis magazine and hitchiked to Morocco. After graduating he taught in a Tibetan village in west China before moving to Beijing in 2008.

In 2012 he founded a 'writers' colony' of stories from China at the Anthill. He is a regular blogger for the Los Angeles Review of Books and has interviewed over sixt ...more

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Alec Ash’s books

Average rating: 4.16 · 1,376 ratings · 183 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China 4.21 avg rating — 1,171 ratings — published 2016 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mountains Are High 3.82 avg rating — 163 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land by Pankaj Mishra (foreword), Howard French (Photographer), James Hugh Carter (Contributor) 4.17 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 2012 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	While We're Here: China Stories from a Writers' Colony by Alec Ash (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Tom Pellman (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 3.83 avg rating — 18 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	China Stories (Los Angeles Review of Books - Digital Editions, Issue #10) by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom (Editor), Helen Gao, Alec Ash (Goodreads Author) 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Alec is Currently Reading

Alec Ash is currently reading

Children of Strife (Children of Time, #4)

by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Goodreads Author)

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Apr 15, 2026 06:20PM

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Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics

by Stephen Greenblatt

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Alec Ash is currently reading Children of Strife (Children of Time, #4) by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 15, 2026 06:20PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash rated a book really liked it The Rose Field (The Book of Dust #3) by Philip Pullman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 02, 2026 07:38PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Rose Field by Philip Pullman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Rose Field by Philip Pullman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash is currently reading Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 02, 2026 07:38PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tyrant by Stephen Greenblatt. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tyrant by Stephen Greenblatt <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash has read The Rose Field (The Book of Dust #3) by Philip Pullman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 02, 2026 07:37PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Rose Field by Philip Pullman. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Rose Field by Philip Pullman <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash finished reading Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Memoir	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 22, 2026 05:11PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash rated a book it was amazing Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror by Xueting Christine Ni	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 09, 2025 11:18PM · like
Alec Ash rated a book it was amazing Open City by Teju Cole	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 18, 2025 06:37AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Open City by Teju Cole. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Open City by Teju Cole <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash rated a book it was amazing Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 02, 2025 08:21PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash rated a book it was amazing Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 11, 2025 09:34PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alec Ash rated a book it was amazing The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 06, 2025 09:51PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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A Million More Pages: Nonfiction	74	96	Sep 24, 2019 09:48AM
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The Lost Challenges: Musical Person of the Month: Garth Brooks (May-June 2019)	59	48	Jun 16, 2020 02:37PM
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Alec’s Year In Books

Alec Ash’s Followers (75)

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Alec Ash

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Preview — Tyrant by Stephen Greenblatt

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