How Much of These Hills Is Gold

How Much of These Hills Is Gold is a 2020 debut novel by author C Pam Zhang. It was longlisted for the Booker Prize[1] and shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.[2] How Much of These Hills Is Gold was published in North America by Riverhead Books and in the UK and Commonwealth by Virago Press.[3]

How Much of These Hills Is Gold
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AuthorC Pam Zhang
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherRiverhead Books
Publication date
2020

Development and writing

Zhang began the novel after waking up with the opening sentence in her head.[4] She did not originally intend to write a novel,[5] and after completing the first chapter, Zhang stopped working on the project for a period.[4] The novel occurs in the American West, a setting explored in novels Zhang read when young, including East of Eden, Lonesome Dove, and Little House on the Prairie.[6] The first chapter was written without conducting research, as Zhang did not want research to "stifle" her writing.[7]

Though this novel was the first published by Zhang, she says that she has another "drawer" novel that "that will never see the light of day".[8]

Reception

Critical reception

According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly "Rave" and "Positive" reviews.[9]

Critics highlighted the lyrical quality of Zhang's writing.[10][11] In his review of the book for The Irish Times, Oliver Farry wrote that the book's prose was "reminiscent" of authors Cormac McCarthy and Toni Morrison.[12]

Honors

In 2020, the novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize,[13] and shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.[14]

References
  1. "The 2020 Booker Prize longlist announced". The Booker Prizes. July 27, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  2. "2020 First Novel Prize: The Short List". The Center for Fiction. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  3. "How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang coming Spring 2019". Virag0.
  4. Etter, Sarah Rose (April 16, 2020). "Fool's Gold: C Pam Zhang Interviewed by Sarah Rose Etter - BOMB Magazine". Bomb Magazine. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  5. Cary, Alice (April 7, 2020). "Author Interview - C Pam Zhang, author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold". BookPage.com. BookPage. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  6. Chang, Alexandra (April 7, 2020). "Can Two Chinese American Orphans Find Home in the Wild West?". Electric Literature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  7. Watson, Alexandra (April 7, 2020). "Making Space for Imaginative Empathy in the Historical Record". Apogee Journal. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  8. Jurczyk, Eva (April 8, 2020). "Panning for Gold: A Conversation with C Pam Zhang". The Rumpus.net. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  9. "How Much of These Hills Is Gold". Book Marks. Literary Hub. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  10. Mrjoian, Aram (April 16, 2020). "Mining the American Mythos in "How Much of These Hills Is Gold"". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  11. Quinn, Annalisa (April 10, 2020). "In 'How Much Of These Hills Is Gold,' This Land Is Not Your Land". NPR. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  12. Farry, Oliver (April 26, 2020). "How Much of These Hills Is Gold: A haunting debut". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  13. Marshall, Alex (July 27, 2020). "Hilary Mantel, Kiley Reid, Anne Tyler in Running for Booker Prize". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  14. Saka, Rasheeda (October 1, 2020). "Here's the shortlist for the Center for Fiction's 2020 First Novel Prize". Literary Hub. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
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