Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet – Xinran
NF/NF

For sale: a Rare and Exceptional first edition, first printing, hardcover copy of Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by  Xinran. First Edition stated, 2005 Nan Talese.  First Printing with full number line reversed, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.

The book is in Near Fine condition with clean, bright  boards, strong title ink on a straight spine, clean page blocks, tight binding, mild spine tilt, lightly rounded spine ends, mild edge wear, and lightly rubbed corners. The interior of the book is also in Near Fine condition with no marks, inscriptions or other signs of ownership inside. The end papers and the interior pages are clean and bright, making it an excellent addition to any collection.

The dust jacket is in Near Fine condition with price intact on front flap, and mild edge wear.

It was 1994 when Xinran, a journalist and the author of The Good Women of China, received a telephone call asking her to travel four hours to meet an oddly dressed woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China. Xinran made the trip and met the woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet.

Shu Wen and her husband had been married for only a few months in the 1950s when he joined the Chinese army and was sent to Tibet for the purpose of unification of the two countries. Shortly after he left she was notified that he had been killed, although no details were given. Determined to find the truth, Shu Wen joined a militia unit going to the Tibetan north, where she soon was separated from the regiment. Without supplies and knowledge of the language, she wandered, trying to find her way until, on the brink of death, she was rescued by a family of nomads under whose protection she moved from place to place with the seasons and eventually came to discover the details of her husband’s death.

In the haunting Sky Burial, Xinran has recreated Shu Wen’s journey, writing beautifully and simply of the silence and the emptiness in which Shu Wen was enveloped. The book is an extraordinary portrait of a woman and a land, each at the mercy of fate and politics. It is an unforgettable, ultimately uplifting tale of love loss, loyalty, and survival.

Small volume ships promptly in a manila envelope with book wrapped in both craft paper and multiple layers of bubble wrap.