On Gold Mountain

The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family

By: Lisa See

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Out of the stories heard in her childhood in Los Angeles's Chinatown and years of research, See has constructed this sweeping chronicle of her Chinese-American family, a work that takes in stories of racism and romance, entrepreneurial genius and domestic heartache, secret marriages and sibling rivalries, in a powerful history of two cultures meeting in a new world.

The result is a vivid, sweeping family portrait in the tradition of Alex Haley's Roots that is at once particular and universal, telling the story not only of one family, but of the Chinese people in America itself, a country that both welcomes and reviles immigrants like no other culture in the world. On Gold Mountain was a national best seller and a New York Times Notable Book.

©1996 Lisa See (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Astonishing.... A comprehensive and exhaustively researched account of a Chinese-American family... that juggles such explosive elements as race, class, tradition, prejudice, poverty, and great wealth in new and relatively unexpected combinations." ( The Los Angeles Times)

Amazing 👍👍

Amazing story and detail. It shows us how the US government has been a races from day one!

Superb history of Lisa See’s Chinese Family

A wonderful “visual” reading. See is such an excellent storyteller. Captures life through several generations

Too much like a documentary history book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

More like a text book than a novel. Interesting, but I was looking more for a story.

Was On Gold Mountain worth the listening time?

I didn't finish.

Good book. Solid Story.

While at times slow, this story was interesting and tells the true story of a family who lived during such an interesting time. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Wonderful history

Any additional comments?

This was a wonderful work of fiction with the story of Chinese coming to California.

Sucked me in!

From the start this story sucked me in. Lisa See is an amazingly talented storyteller.
I have been many of the locations in California that she mentions. The locations in China I will most likely never see but through her story I feel like it is all alive! Simply magnificent.

Learned so much wow

This book is so intriguing and interesting. I learned so much. I am so embarrassed by how we have treated the Chinese . WOW California should hide your head in shame.

Ehhh ok

This book was a little repetitive is to me and I didn't find it as exciting as I thought it might be.
I did enjoy how it was sectioned in to years so I could compare what was happening in America during that time
😋

Great book

Would you listen to On Gold Mountain again? Why?

I would listen to this again. The scope of the subject matter warrants another listen

What did you like best about this story?

The breadth of the story. The Chinese experience in the US is put into perspective.

Have you listened to any of Kate Reading’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Utterly fascinating & so well researched and written

As a historian, I feel torn about gathering my own families’ history let alone that on each side my ancestors changed the area of the Kansas Border Wars and the Kansas City Missouri metropolitan area that is similar to Ms. Lee’s experience. I truly want to write a lineage for each side of my Fraternal and Maternal lineages. This book has fanned some deep flames. The book was so smooth and I often forgot that this was a history of an amazing, loving , strong, and prolific real family. So well written and researched. I question an obvious American of seemingly non-Chinese ancestors being given this book to narrate. So worth the read/listen.