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The History Connection - Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid
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List Price: $22.95
Our Price: $12.91
Your Save: $ 10.04 ( 44% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Broadway
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.1046
EAN: 9780767922005
ISBN: 076792200X
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: 2008-07-08
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: 2008-07-08
Studio: Broadway
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the most entertaining and informative books....
Comment: This was one of the most entertaining and yet informative travel books I've ever read. What I liked most is that the author educates the reader in the most entertaining way and in a way that makes the facts easy to remember. His experiences are memorable, funny, shocking, and incredible. It's a must read for anyone that loves travel and adventure!
Customer Rating:
Summary: It has its moments
Comment: I enjoyed "Cannibals:. It was refreshing, witty and fun.
"Savages" was dreadful.
So, it was with mixed feelings that I purchased "China." It's not terrible. That said, it ain't great either. Troost has some very insightful and amusing anecdotes, some witty commentary and the occasional vision that's stunning.
But, the incessant America bashing and Bushwhacking gets old fast.
Like so many "Euro-types" he chooses to live in the states and reserve the right to use the country as a punching bag.
He claims to understand America and Americans, "its easy to get",but he understands Kiribati far better than his own home.
Save your money and wait for this book to be remaindered at B & N.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Funny book, but I'm not going to China
Comment: I thought I wanted to visit China. Now I don't, not after reading this book! It was informative, made me laugh out loud, and gave important, good-to-know details that I bet you won't find in any other travel guide. About three-quarters of the way through, it started getting repetitive, however, and I started to lose interest. I do like his writing style--it reminds me a lot of David Sedaris--and I found myself reading parts aloud to family and friends.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Witty and informative - great book!
Comment: I have been a fan of Maarten Troost's funny, informative writing style since his first book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which up to now had been my favorite book of his. Lost on Planet China has now taken that spot. I haven't traveled to China and so have no first-hand knowledge of the country; my learnings are limited to friends and associates who have taken packaged tours. I truly enjoyed learning more about China and its people through Maarten's perspective of touring the country with no apparent set agenda beyond observing life around him and integrating into the culture as much as a laowai is able to. I had the opportunity to meet Maarten and his wife, Sylvia, at a reading of his second book at a local book store when they lived in Sacramento. (Yes, it does get quite hot in the summer, and no, not everyone is on drugs!) His down-to-earth manner and easy friendliness is evident in his latest book, which I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in getting a candid perspective of day-to-day life in China.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A complete waste of time
Comment: Having read positive reviews of Marten Troost's "Lost on Planet China," I was disappointed to learn that the book did not live up to my expectations. As Troost is an experienced travel writer, I was completely taken aback by his condescending tone throughout the book. All of his observations of China and the Chinese people were negative. He went from one place to another, without spending enough time to understand the culture, or to learn about the people and place. It was evident that there was a lack of interaction with the local people and one wonders how good of a travelogue this is if his interaction was mostly with another fellow American. There wasn't an attempt to understand the culture, but rather superficial observations of life there. Half way through the book, I realized there was a lack of purpose in his journey. It almost felt like he was writing about China just for the sake of it.
There are definitely much better books out there in this genre. Two that come to mind are Peter Hessler's "Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China" which explored modern day China and Colin Thubron's "Shadow of the Silk Road" which chronicled the author's travel through modern Asia along the ancient Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The bestselling author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals returns with a sharply observed, hilarious account of his adventures in China—a complex, fascinating country with enough dangers and delicacies to keep him, and readers, endlessly entertained.
Maarten Troost has charmed legions of readers with his laugh-out-loud tales of wandering the remote islands of the South Pacific. When the travel bug hit again, he decided to go big-time, taking on the world’s most populous and intriguing nation. In Lost on Planet China, Troost escorts readers on a rollicking journey through the new beating heart of the modern world, from the megalopolises of Beijing and Shanghai to the Gobi Desert and the hinterlands of Tibet.
Lost on Planet China finds Troost dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai; eating Yak in Tibet; deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as Cattle Penis with Garlic); visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead, very orange); and hiking (with 80,000 other people) up Tai Shan, China’s most revered mountain. But in addition to his trademark gonzo adventures, the book also delivers a telling look at a vast and complex country on the brink of transformation that will soon shape the way we all work, live, and think. As Troost shows, while we may be familiar with Yao Ming or dim sum or the cheap, plastic products that line the shelves of every store, the real China remains a world—indeed, a planet--unto itself.
Maarten Troost brings China to life as you’ve never seen it before, and his insightful, rip-roaringly funny narrative proves that once again he is one of the most entertaining and insightful armchair travel companions around.
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