Hessler is former Peace Corps volunteer, a MacArthur Fellow and Kiriyama Prize-Winner; he is best known for non-fiction books chronicling the dramatic changes within China in the late 90s/ early aughts, including River Town, Oracle Bones, and Country Driving.

This story doesn't shy away from several alarming details: obsession with firearms, tendencies toward loneliness & isolation, susceptibilities to right-wing religious/ neo-nationalist misinformation (particularly the parroting of MAGA/ "White Lives Matter" propaganda points) are all troublesome.