Four Years of Living, Learning, Teaching, and Becoming Half-Chinese in Suzhou, China
| Home Page ABOUT THE BOOK Why a Memoir? Meaning of the Title Book Format What/Where Is Suzhou? Why Suzhou Is So Fitting for This Book Where Can I Buy The Book? SELECTED PREVIEWS Chapter 5: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Chapter 20: A Precious Belt Chapter 29: A City Shuts Down UPDATES SINCE 2006 Our Story Suzhou's Story EXTRA PHOTOS Related to the Book Suzhou 2001-2006 Suzhou Since 2006 ABOUT: The Author My Next Book My SuzhouPlus Website |
 
 THE BOOK'S FORMAT
While CHINA, HEART AND SOUL takes memoir form, my intent was never that it be a cathartic, navel-gazing confessional. Nor were my experiences particularly extraordinary, nothing like landing an airplane full of people on the Hudson River or mushing. Unusual and out of the norm? Perhaps, but far from heroic. Rather, my objective was always to inform readers about China and Chinese culture, about the daily lives of ordinary people there and how those lives, nay the entire country, are being radically changed by waves of industrialization, globalization, and Westernization. Embedded in my story are the details of daily life: in homes and schools, in supermarkets and on public transportation, in the old city and in its booming new suburbs and vanishing countryside. I chose a chronological format with multiple, mostly short chapters for several reasons. First, the reader will learn more and more about China in much the same way I did, with gradually expanding understanding and broadened horizons. Second, the shorter chapters facilitate introducing multiple aspects of Chinese life, culture, even mindset. Finally, the structure enables readers to see the changes taking place: in me, in Ping Ping, and in the city around us. It is as close I can get to letting the reader experience those changes along with me. Just as I supplemented my own day-to-day experiences with readings and Internet searches, readers will hopefully find helpful background and further explanation in the gray-shaded sidebars sprinkled throughout the book. I wanted an approach that would not interfere directly with the storytelling flow, but I didn’t want the information buried in footnotes that are both too academic in feel and never read anyway. The sidebar approach allows readers to read, ignore, or just to come back when they are ready. |