[ZKS]≡ Read Gratis Big in China My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing Alan Paul 9780061993152 Books

Big in China My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing Alan Paul 9780061993152 Books

Download As PDF : Big in China My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing Alan Paul 9780061993152 Books

Big in China My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing Alan Paul 9780061993152 Books

Easy reading and an interesting story. Having lived in various countries for extended periods I can appreciate many of his comments and insights about expats in foreign countries. His desire and willingness to go beyond the protective environment he was placed in is admirable. As he comments, many expats who have this same opportunity choose to isolate themselves in the closed protected community and count the days until their posting ends. Hooray for Alan Paul for documenting his experiences and enjoying what presented itself in this three year assignment. This book should be on the recommended reading list for anyone thinking of moving to a foreign country whether as a company move, or as an individual or family without the benefits he and his family were afforded by his company.

Personally I would have liked a few more details, but still a great book.


Tags : Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing [Alan Paul] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. What a romp….Alan Paul walked the walk, preaching the blues in China. Anyone who doubts that music is bigger than words needs to read this great tale. <em>—</em>Gregg Allman <br />  <br /> An absolute love story. In his embrace of family,Alan Paul,Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing,Harper,0061993158,Genres & Styles - Blues,Blues musicians;China;Biography.,Journalists;China;Biography.,Journalists;United States;Biography.,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY General,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY,BLUES,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Blues musicians,China,DESCRIPTION AND TRAVEL,Essays & Travelogues,GENERAL,General Adult,Journalists,MUSIC Genres & Styles Blues,Non-Fiction,Personal Memoirs,TRAVEL Essays & Travelogues,United States

Big in China My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing Alan Paul 9780061993152 Books Reviews

Wow, what a story teller. Alan painted China with many shades of hues. The book is a page turner and a feast! The author shared his adventure and the book took the readers along for a wonderful ride! I can certainly feel the tempo, the beat and the rhythm from a doubtful entry into the thousand-day journey in a foreign land to the hours before his reluctant departure. There were no moments of boredom. I went through the book in one sitting. Then, I logged online and listened to "Beijing Blues (the studio version)" on YouTube. For me, who was born (long ago) in one of those disappearing hutongs in Beijing, the book, the music, and the pictures sent me right back to the old metropolis - the people, the traffic, the red-dust spring storms, the summer downpours rattled with roars of thunders and the aftermath - fresh, crisp, and the smell of electricity in the air. The book is far more than a travel log. The stories are infused with souls. Many would identify with Alan for the tug and pull of a modern man - the responsibilities of a father, a husband, a son and the man's own dream, career, and identity. Read it, it is enjoyable!
If you enjoy reading about China from any perspective, but especially that of the expat experience in China, this book is for you. If you love Blues music, this book is for you. If the idea of Chinese musicians playing Blues with an expat American husband and father makes you smile, this book is definitely for you. Alan Paul's tale of finding himself and finding kindred spirits in music while living in Beijing is one of the best books I've read this year. This is the kind of vivid storytelling that begs to be filmed and the good news, is that there's a movie in the works. Alan Paul is a fine musician with great taste in guitarists and music, and he's also a heckuva terrific writer.
Alan Paul's Big In China is a most improbable tale. An artist rediscovers and deepens his connection to the blues. A parent deepens bonds to his children. A husband grows even closer to his wife. All set against the backdrop of a China modernizing at warp speed. If this was fiction, we'd dismiss it as too improbable.

I confess to bias, having had some conversations with Alan Paul in his capacity as a contributor to the Wall Street Journal prior to the publication of Big In China. He is a rare polymath, equally adept in the worlds of Journalism, the electric guitar, basketball, and now as Panda Dad the spokesman for a generation of parents.

This is a remarkable story, chronicling two remarkably transformative years in China. I recommend it without reservation.
As a sinophile I love reading about the adventures of expats tackling the complex mystery that is China. A friend and I had the same conversation about this book, so I feel it is important to address it right here at the start for anyone who is thinking about buying. We both judged this book by its cover and I passed it up the first time I came across it. The faded cover, the author in a dinner jacket, the acoustic guitar... heck, I can almost make out Pan-Am on the fin of that jet. Alan Paul's adventure in China was anything but faded and washed out, it was a vibrant colorful adventure that made me teem with envy and fascination all while provoking laughter and some deep thoughts. Having read the book and knowing the story, the cover is charming to me now, but don't get the wrong impression.

Don't glance at the cover and assume, as I did, that it's about some folk singer who over a decade ago, did a 10 minute spot on Chinese TV. This is about a man who just a few years back packed up his wife and kids, boarded a jet for China, met a Chinese guitarist, jammed in some small bars, eventually became the front man for a Chinese/American band, which got voted Beijing's best, and played a large music festival in front of thousands of fans being introduced to good old fashioned Blues. Along the way the entire family had its share of adventures and journeys throughout China and we the reader get to meet an amazing cast of characters.

Alan is a fortunate man indeed. From reading the book it's clear that he has an incredible family and a talented wife whose expat package with a major publication helped make this adventure possible. It would be easy to begrudge Alan for such good fortune if he remained sheltered inside the gates of a posh expat community and didn't appreciate the potential for adventure outside those gates, but that is part of what makes this book special in my opinion, Alan goes beyond those gates and doesn't take for granted anyone or anything over the course of it all. Sure the musical journey was fascinating, but I loved reading about his forays outside those walls where a simple lunch alone could turn into a full on English lesson with a growing crowd eager to interact with a foreigner.

It's not just Alan's adventure. I enjoyed reading about how differently each of his kids and his wife were reacting not only to the band's development and rise, but to life in China. Or reading about his former Chinese teacher who must decide between a lucrative overseas job offer or to pursue his desire to become a monk at one of the five Daoist mountains. We also get a look into the lives and personalities of each of the band members and their struggles. With all that Alan had on his plate, it would be understandable if he forgot about some of the cast that were part of his story, but he doesn't and I think that is what appealed to me the most.

In the midst of all the madness Alan takes the time to seek out his former Chinese teacher, learns to cook with his housekeeper, and insists that their driver be part of the family picture just before they board the plane back to the states. It's those little things that got me invested in Alan's adventure as a reader and it is one I would highly recommend reading. What a ride. Alan certainly won't be hung up on dreams.
This is a great read--charming, light-hearted and authenic. I have fond memories of taking two tow-headed boys to China during this time,and being stopped constantly for pictures and questions about TWO children. Paul's tale brought it all back. He captures the essential Chinese mentality, the energy and hopefulness, while remaining rooted in the culture. Too bad China has changed and moved on from that period and that energy,
Easy reading and an interesting story. Having lived in various countries for extended periods I can appreciate many of his comments and insights about expats in foreign countries. His desire and willingness to go beyond the protective environment he was placed in is admirable. As he comments, many expats who have this same opportunity choose to isolate themselves in the closed protected community and count the days until their posting ends. Hooray for Alan Paul for documenting his experiences and enjoying what presented itself in this three year assignment. This book should be on the recommended reading list for anyone thinking of moving to a foreign country whether as a company move, or as an individual or family without the benefits he and his family were afforded by his company.

Personally I would have liked a few more details, but still a great book.