In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling. Like many other small cities in this ever-evolving country, Fuling is heading down a new path of change and growth, which came into remarkably sharp focus when Peter Hessler arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer, marking the first time in more than half a century that the city had an American resident. Hessler taught English and American literature at the local college, but it was his students who taught him about the complex processes of understanding that take place when one is immersed in a radically different society.

Poignant, thoughtful, funny, and enormously compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a city that is seeking to understand both what it was and what it someday will be.

Beginning his journey in Genoa, Reinhart scours the Italian countryside in search of the fabled focaccia col formaggio di Recco. After a stop in Florence for pizza vesuvio, with its black truffles and molten cheese, Peter heads to Rome to sample the famed seven-foot-long pizza bianca, and then Naples for the archetypal pizza napoletana. Back in America, the hunt for authentic pizza begins in the unlikely locale of Phoenix, Arizona, where Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco has convinced many that his pie is the best in the country. Sardinian pizza in Dallas; the pizza epicenter of New Haven; grilled pizza in Providence; the deep-dish pies of Chicago; Yugoslavian pogacha in Bellevue, Washington—these are just a few of the stops on Reinhart’s epic tour.

Reinhart then returns to the kitchen, where he gives a master class on pizza-making techniques and provides his interpretations of the most memorable pizzas from his journey. His insatiable curiosity—and appetite—and gift for storytelling make this a must-have book for the avid cook, as well as a great read for the armchair pizzaiolo.