Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays [Paperback]

Bill Holm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 2000

Arranged by letter of the alphabet, with at least one entry per letter, these short pieces capture the variety of daily life in contemporary China. Writing about traditions that endure in rural areas as well as the bureaucratic absurdities an American teacher and traveler experiences in the 1980s, Holm covers such topics as dumpling making, bound feet, Chinglish, night soil, and banking. In a new afterword to the second edition, Holm reacts to recent changes. "Holm's view is entertaining, thought-provoking and touching. After reading his book, you won't look at the United States or China the same way." - Philadelphia Inquirer

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions (August 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571312501
• ISBN-13: 978-1571312501
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #772,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty yet insightful, August 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays (Paperback)

China is not a mystery country anymore. Yet it still remains mystical to many ordinary foreigners (or "barbarians"). Well, Holm tells it well in a very down-to-earth fashion. His chronicle of life in China approaches you as real, uproariously hilarious at times, and remains insightful throughout the chapters.

I have studied and worked in China over the past three years. This book has travelled with me on my many train rides over China. I simply could not think of a better companion. And I thoroughly enjoyed it every time I read/revisited a random chapter.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in China, and especially those who have their own China experiences and also who are set to commit some time exploring the country themselves.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, fun, and makes you think!, January 9, 2002

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays (Paperback)

Mr. Holm fills this book about China with amazing insight, stories of daily life and blood stirring tales about people trying to keep alive ideas that Americans have allowed to die and rot. What do we know about freedoms? The author shows us a nation where the people are willing to smuggle in books, learn other languages and even take in foreign ideas while living under a government that is more than willing to punish them for doing so. A nation that treat the kids like gems and the adults like resources. A nation that has recycled everything, from people to soil to noodles for thousands of years and will continue to do so forever. A book not only about Chinese culture but also about American thought.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best for those interested in the foreign teacher experience, February 27, 2005

By 

Tanja Lessner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays (Paperback)

If you are looking for the "definitive China book," this is not it. Read something else. But if you are interested in how Americans cope with a year or two's posting as a teacher in a Chinese university -- or if you have been, or will be, on such a posting yourself -- you may well enjoy this book.

It's organized as a series of vignettes which average five to ten pages. The vignettes are kind of like diary entries. They describe daily life, bureaucracy, teaching, food, travel, friends, housing, and so forth. This kind of information can be hard to find. Of course the author went to China in the late 1980s, and a lot has changed since then.

This is not a book that was buffed and polished, edited, re-edited, and beautifully designed by a big publishing house looking to make it into a best seller, like Peter Hessler's "River Town." The up side is that it is very genuine and lacks the slightly annoying preciousness of "River Town." It's more like going to a slide presentation at the house of your neighbor who just came back from China, and being handed a photocopy of the journal they kept.