Well, I’m back from the drawing board with a new book called Why China Will Never Rule the World: Travels in the Two Chinas. The official date of publication has been set at June 4, 2011 and the book should be available from all major bookstores in North America as well as 40 online retailers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, and so on. The book is being published in Canada and printed in and distributed from the United States. There is a marketing campaign in place, but that doesn’t preclude failure, goodness knows. I’ve sacrificed a lot to write this book, penned next to the Danshui River and along the frozen shores of the Bay of Fundy, and feel it is a much stronger effort than my first, which, in retrospect, seems rather derivative and disjointed; perhaps even a touch puerile. I probably won’t be available to field questions for a while (if anyone has any, that is) because I’m going to be too busy helping my publisher promote the thing, but if you’d like to learn more, you can go to http://www.troyparfitt.com to read an excerpt, take a look at the cover, etc. I should mention that the site is still under construction.
Dear Ed,
Looking good, I eagerly anticipate reading it.
I’ll forgo my usual reticence and let you know if I think you’re full of shit or not.
Two questions.
First, why didn’t you use your real name as the author? The pen name you chose sounds fakey as hell.
Second, OK, I can understand if the photo shoot for your promo shots was scheduled during your lunch break from your Mall Security gig, but maybe you should have brought a change of clothes. Just saying is all.
I keed, I keed, seriously, good luck with the new book.
It would be nice if one fucking good thing managed to come out of New Brunswick.
And hey, no matter what happens, you can always say it’s better than that SARS and Sex POS.
You’re right. I do look like a mall cop, don’t I? I should have a speech bubble floating in front of my melon saying, “You’re banned for a week you filthy little punks, unless you buy me a pack of smokes. Then I’ll look the other way.”
The “Praise - Coming Soon!” was written by the website designer. I think that all the bits that aren’t populated yet say “Coming Soon!” or something like that. It’s a work in progress. The book hasn’t actually gone to print yet. It is kind of funny, though. Sort of like how Less Nessman, on WKRP, had tape around his desk to show “where walls will someday be.” Remember WKRP? Don’t make 'em like that anymore. Nosireebob.
Ed,
Read the excerpt and I’m totally hooked.
LOVED the description of TST in the morning, it was spot on, I could smell it as I read.
Hilarious you should mention the Theroux, I read the Iron Rooster about 2 weeks after I first got here, and as you were starting to outline your plan, I was thinking, this sounds cool, kind of like Riding the Iron Rooster, except with manners. And then you up and cite it, brilliant.
I’ll definitely be looking to acquire a copy at the earliest availability.
While reading your preface I remembered my first time in China, when I was fifteen years old, taking the bus from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. I haven’t thought of that day in years.
I don’t agree Taiwan is another version of China and that you could learn much about China from Taiwan, not for political reasons but simply that Taiwan is very different than the mainland. People’s thinking patterns, government, system history, cultural views, immigrant nation, island mentality etc…really different.
I’d also mention a few things about the writing style but I’m not qualified to give suggestions until I write a book myself!
The book seems interesting, and I’d like to read it!
On the writing style: It seems to be a mix between the discourse of an intellectual conversation, a textbook and a magazine article. The effect’s not too bad, but either the paragraphs or the sentences are too long or there are too many ‘big’ words used together to make reading smooth - I found myself skipping over sections (I’m a notoriously fussy reader; if the first page doesn’t grab me, I don’t buy the book because I’ll never read it). This could be because I just finished 28 hours of travelling, however
I remember there was quite a lot of discussion about your first book. If I recall what some people said was that with all the negative things written about Taiwanese culture it would be refreshing if somebody balanced it out with some of the sweet stuff too. I am pretty sure that that is what it was and I remember that at the time you talked about writing another book and were intending to incorporate some of the thoughts from those discussions into the next one.
I am really curious if you did that.
The new one baffled me a bit because from the title and the introduction I thought it was going to be more expository and then the first chapter read a like memoir, which when I settled into I quite enjoyed. If the next chapter were up I’d definitely read it, in part because of the perspective, in part because I just liked the style, and in part because it is such a huge challenge you took on. Damn ballsy that and I look forward to your impressions. Do I think that three months in China was enough to take much of it in actually?
No.
Do I think "anybody " really gets what is going on there?
No.
Do I look forward to reading about your adventures anyway?
Nice interview but I had to struggle at times to hear your voice over the wandering guitar. Nice touch but bring the volume down.
It’s nice to see another view of China beyond the usual butt kissing and awed responses of industrialists who go there for a month and to challenge some of the myths about the PRC.
I WILL read your book.
We actually did bring the guitar down a bit, but the thing is: it conceals noise - rustling papers and people talking - as it was shot in a lounge affiixed to a shopping plaza. Thanks for your comment, though. You’re right to say it’s a bit of a distraction.
Yes, it’s been fascinating to see (after a return to North America after 10 years of living in Taipei) how Americans and Canadians view China: either as a grave threat or some sort of economic beacon. You see media people all the time here who blather on about the place without two clues about its history or cultural composition. Sure, they’ve got lots of economic stats to rattle off, but nothing insightful.
But it’s the same with other foreign topics. I watched the CBC (the Canadian equivalent of the BBC) for days re coverage of those protests in Cairo. They were so focussed on the power of Twitter that they failed to talk about (or at least I didn’t notice) who Mubarak was - how he had come to power, what he had done, exactly how he and his regime were corrupt, etc., etc. Instead of interviewing experts, they mainly spoke to Canadian Egytians on the ground who said things like: ‘I Twittered my friends to tell them to meet me at the square. We all hope Mubarak leaves soon.’ Yes, we heard that already. Now, can we have some background? Some context? Maybe foreign cultures are just too difficult to wrap your head around if you’ve never experienced one and therefore too hard to try and figure out. But maybe this is just intellectual laziness. I don’t know. Of course, I could go out and buy the Economist or something, but at $10 an edition I can hardly afford it.
If only there were some vast computerized network where I could find information about everything instantly, with the click of a button… Ah, one can only dream.
[quote=“Ed Lakewood”]…If only there were some vast computerized network where I could find information about everything instantly, with the click of a button… Ah, one can only dream.
Ed[/quote]
Will be very interesting to see someone like John Huntsman running for president next year. He’s mormon and spent years in Taiwan and later in China as US ambassador. Would up the debate level quite a bit one would hope. Or maybe the discussion would focus on his Mormonism and whether he wears the correct undies.
Will be very interesting to see someone like John Huntsman running for president next year. He’s mormon and spent years in Taiwan and later in China as US ambassador. Would up the debate level quite a bit one would hope. Or maybe the discussion would focus on his Mormonism and whether he wears the correct undies.