Reviews from China-based expats mean the most…

…to me, at least.

I am particularly proud of a couple of recent Big in China reviews:

The good folks at China Beat lauded the book:  “For a good China-focused summer book, I recommend Big in China…a very funny, very touching book.” Read the whole thing here.

And China Beat downloaded Big in China after reading this review from Jeremiah Jenne over at the Granite Studio. I really felt proud to read this review – “Few books about coming to China talk about the experience with the [same] warmth and emotion…”- because I have read Jeremiah and admired his blogwork for years. It turns out he was a Woodie Alan fan, though we had never met before this recent visit, when he had me come speak to his newly arrived American exchange students at Beijing Foreign Language University. I enjoyed that experience very much.

I have also been very happy just to receive some very nice emails from Beijing-based readers, such as this one:

Great book!  I have been living in Beijing for 13 years, just down the road from Riviera and enjoyed your brilliant descriptions of places and people I know well.  But most inspiring of all was the love that infused the entire story: your love for life, for family, for music, for China and for America.  And that made me appreciate even more my own, which was an unexpected gift. Good on you mate, at the Aussies say!  Cheers… – Tarrant Mahony

Thank you all. As I said, it means a lot coming from people who have lived the same, or similar, lives.

“Alan Paul plunges into Chinese life and takes us along for the ride, through vegetable markets, used-car lots, Taoist temples, divey bars, and a beachside music festival before thousands of cheering fans. He conveys the thrills and challenges of living abroad, the confusions and regrets, and most of all the opportunity to become the person we always hoped to be.”

-Peter Hessler, author, River Town; Country Driving