After graduating from high school, he had undiagnosed depression, which was classified at the time as schizophrenia, and was treated in the Kings County Psychiatric Ward. Hughart was educated at Phillips Academy (Andover). His mother, Veronica Hughart, was an architect. His father, John Harding Page, served as a naval officer. Hughart was born in Peoria, Illinois on March 13, 1934.

You won’t be disappointed.Barry Hughart (Ma– August 1, 2019) was an American author of fantasy novels. I suggest you get a copy of Bridge of Birds and start reading right now, or save yourself the bother and get all three volumes at once. I keep re-reading it every few years, and every time it’s still just as good.

This is a book of inspired (and inspiring) writing. It is an absolute pleasure to read. Whatever the case, we all agree that it was a damn shame that Hughart’s publishers decided to be dickheads – there were supposed to be more sequels, but due to the publishers’ incompetence they never saw the light. I find them just as charming and enticing, but I know some readers who commented that they found them a tad repetitive. There are two sequels: The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen. As Hughart himself says, it’s a story of “An Ancient China that Never Was.” Don’t expect to learn real history and culture. This isn’t a Chinese epic, rather a Western romantic view of ancient China. I find the novel strikes an excellent balance between the naive Number Ten Ox and the cynical Master Li, between the rational and the fantastical, between China that was and China that could have been. Pretty much everything: the characters (both main and supporting), the setting, the plot twists as they try to ascertain the root cause and possible solutions. In a market populated by dark fantasy and horror detectives, this book stands unique in one important aspect – charm. One of the best historical-fantasy detective/mystery novels out there. He teams up with master Li Kao, a rather eccentric octogenarian scholar. The novel tells of the first adventure of Number Ten Ox (the villager who’s telling the story) as he’s trying to solve the mysterious sickness that afflicted the children of his village. Whenever someone asks me about my all-time favourite books, I invariable whinge about not being able to choose just one. But if I’m pressed further, Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds is amongst the first books I’ll mention.

Barry hughart books