Poagao's Book

Arts & Sciences Culture & History
21

Thanks, everyone. I think you’re right; the Iraq and SARS news is what everyone’s paying attention to at the moment. Locus hasn’t planned any publicity at all, no press conference or anything. What happens is they send out a press release and see if anyone is interested. That’s it. I wouldn’t mind going around the island, but I don’t think they’re going to do anything like that. So far I’ve done one interview for the FTV English news, which will probably be on tonight or tomorrow night at 11 (or 7? I don’t know). I’m also doing the “Bi Mu Yu” show on Hansheng Radio next Wednesday night. But that’s all as far as I know.

Of course there’s plenty of dirt to dig if people are so inclined, but I really don’t expect that kind of popularity. the term “shu mantou” is really what people say about doing time in the army or in jail, and it is because you eat one piece of steamed bread, aka Mantou, each morning for breakfast.

22

Poagao, hi.

I finally found your book and BOUGHT it today here in Keelung. My gf will read it this weekend and tell me what it says. The cover looks great, is that you on the cover? Nice photo. Maybe somebody can post the cover shot here on the board so everyone can at least see the cover page. It’s cool.

My friend here runs a book distribution firm so i got the book from him, after NOT finding it any of the bookstores yet. He sold it to me for NT$161 cash, that’s a pretty good discount, no? But I hope that discount won’t eat into any of your profits! SMILE.

btw, what does a writer in taiwan get for a book, in terms of money. The book sells for NT$230 i noticed, so how much of that do you get? half? one third? More less?

One major question. you are a genius! did you translate that book yourself. There is no translator’s name on it. so you ust have done it. wow, you really know Chinese well!

extra questions: who is the Dr. Harold Wills the book is dedicated to?

Who are is Mrs. Sullivan, Chris Jones, Jon Stuart, Edward H. White, all mentined in book? That is the only English I could read? SMILE

23

http://www.romanization.com/books/poagao/

Q:[quote=“formosa”]How exactly would one translate the Chinese title: “Taiwan Mantou from an American SOldier?” What does that mean. MANTOU? please xplain.[/quote]
A:
or (note the resemblance)

24

[quote=“formosa”]extra questions: who is the Dr. Harold Wills the book is dedicated to?
Who are is Mrs. Sullivan, Chris Jones, Jon Stuart, Edward H. White, all mentined in book? That is the only English I could read? SMILE[/quote]

Wow, that’s a lot of questions. Yes, that’s me on the cover, although a very Photoshopped me no doubt to remove blemishes, scars and other general ugliness from my visage.
You can see the cover on my book page at www.locuspublishing.com

Sounds like you got a good price. I think I’ve already made most of the money I’m going to make on this book. Locus paid me NT$20k in advance, and I won’t see any royalties until December. So discount away; it probably won’t make much of a difference as far as I’m concerned. I only get 10%, btw.

We got a translator to do the translation, but I worked with him. Good thing, too, because I had to re-translate a lot of things. Seems he was really into literal translation and making the Chinese seem really “Englishified” if you know what I mean. We went through several drafts before we got it to a decent stage. Lots of editing. Looking back, I should have just translated it myself right off the bat; we could have saved time and money.

Mrs. Sullivan was my third-grade teacher. She spent most of the year trying to get me to write legibly. Didn’t work, really. Chris Jones is a good friend of mine who brought me Dominoes Pizza when I was in boot camp and let me crash at his place in Sanchung when I was on leave up in Taipei, and he used to post on this board until he got fed up with it. Ron Stuart is the ICRT DJ whose ridiculous singing scared ghosts away when I was standing guard in a haunted building, Edward H. White was an astronaut after which my elementary school was named, and Dr. Hill was one of my college professors who inspired me greatly. He passed away last year.

25

Well, poagao, at least they displayed it properly in FNAC. I will check up on it every other week and see it they try to hide it somewhere.

What’s the print run?

My chinese is soo rusty. Dammit, it’s going to take me a month to get through it.

Congrats!

26

Juba, thanks fpr the picture. So that’s what mantou looks like!

But who is that woman? Looks like Tsai In-wen the MAC spinster virgin. Am I right?

27

Congratulations. I will look out for it.

28

I must admit that it shocked me that on average 1.29 conscript dies every day. Thank God I don’t have any male offspring. You don’t want to send them to an army like that.

29

Yeh, especially the o.29 part of them!

30

Notice how people will do anything to avoid being in the Taiwanese armed forces, but do anything to join foreign armed forces ? http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/03/17/198382

31

There’s an article about the book in the China Post’s Prime Time today, on page 3 opposite Hartzell’s piece.

32

That should stimulate sales.

Do you know how the book is doing?

33

No idea. On the day it came out two of the three copies on the shelf of one bookstore I saw on Chongqing S. Road were gone already, but that’s hardly representative. It’s out of my hands now, really.

34

China Post has that you are very busy now.

Several radio,TV, and newspaper interviews should be lined up.

Did that happen since yesterday?

At least they are predicting that you might end up with a bestseller.

I like it so far. A good read, even though my Chinese is being put to the test.

35

[quote=“Mr He”]China Post has that you are very busy now.

Several radio,TV, and newspaper interviews should be lined up.

Did that happen since yesterday?

[/quote]

Well, the article was written by Dan Bloom, and Dan is rather optimistic. I do have a radio interview next Wednesday evening on Hansheng, the FTV interview is tonight at 11 I think, but I’m not that busy these days.

36

Surely the English version would be a goer in the US ? It wasn’t in Yong He Yong He Road Eslite today. Where can I get it ?

37

Eslite said it would be in in a few days; Fnac has it, though, as well as some other bookstores. I’m not sure exactly which, though.

38

Hey Mr Poagao,

Saw you on FTV last night, very cool interview. It came on around 10 minutes into the show, introduced by the Jeffrey Mindich character who seemed to stutter a bit as he read the introduction to the segment. But once it began, it was great.

The only thing that I thought the FTV people screwed up on, just from a TV viewer’s point of view, is that they didn’t even mention your book, or even show a quick video closeup of the cover! I mean, gimme a break, guve us viewers a break, you just spent how many years writing this book, and it is out in print now, and even just published this week, and the silly news show doesn’t even show the book or mention it! WHY?

Oh, they don’t want to give you a free advertisment for your book? Bolderdash! You are a writer, you just published a book, THAT is the news, and of course, your life in the army before. That part of the interview was great, seeing those photos of you in the army and your actual comments were good. But NOT to show the book or even mention it, how do these farking jounros think they are kidding!

Yeh, maybe their office policy says DO NOT give free advertising to any interview subjects. Sure. BUT when they do a story about pop star or a singer or an actor, they sure as hell show or talk abou the movie or song they are promoting. You didn’t do that interview to rehash something you did 5 years ago as a soldier. You were on that show as a professional author with a very interseting book to promote. Authors do this all the time on TV here, well, that is Taiwanese authors, Nobel prize authors, VIP authors. But when a real author like you also comes on, all they can do is show you walking down the street?

I give FTV a D- for professional skills, but an A+ for putting you on in the first place. I doubt that kind of interview will help book sales, because the farking reporter lady didn’t even mention you had a new book out this week! Hmmmm, did I miss something?

If this is the future of English language news programs, forget it.

But other than harping at FTV, those dummies, it was fun to see you on the tube and hear your real voice! Oh, well, like you said above, it is out of your hands now…

39

Yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting too much from them, so it’s better than nothing. The woman did ask some strange questions, like “So do you plan to make Taiwan your home at some point?” and “Do you feel American or Taiwanese?”, to which I replied, respectively, “I think I already have” and “It depends on the time and my mood”. Wishy-washy, I know, but ask a silly question, blah ba blah.

40

Amazing, Poagao, you have an ROC passport, a Chinese name, you just wrote a book about all of that, and the reporter asks you “So do you plan to make Taiwan your home at some point?”

Which point was she talking about? Was she a Taiwanese reporter or a foreign woman? Incredible. I mean, at what point are you accepted as an ROC national? Never? Maybe…

Good on ya for keeping yr sense of humor…