Where Underpants Come From: From Cotton Fields to Checkout Counters --Travels Through the New China and Into the New Global Economy (Hardcover)

~ Joe Bennett (Author)
Key Phrases: underpants come, New Zealand, The Warehouse, Nick Tuck (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British travel writer Bennett informs and endears in his quixotic quest to trace the provenance of his underpants in order to learn something about the commercial and industrial processes on which [his] easy existence depends. Despite his publisher's misgivings, the author travels to the outskirts of Shanghai, posing as an underwear buyer and scheming his way into factories and showrooms to piece together the (increasingly) mysterious origins of his underpants. He heads toward the cotton factories, where few Westerners venture and the population is ethnically closer to Afghan than Chinese, and sober accounts vie with marvelously silly escapades around Bangkok and rural Thailand in search of rubber trees (or more specifically, the origins of his elastic waistband). Bennett's education in the world of global commerce sparkles with humor and sharp observations on modern China's competing strains of enduring Confucianism, vestigial communism and the government's ruthless economic ambitions. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

One man's intrepid journey into Asia to discover why his underpants are so cheap

When Joe Bennett bought a six-pack of underwear in his local supermarket for five dollars, he wondered who on earth could be making any money, let alone profit, from the exchange. How many processes and middlemen are involved? Where and how is the underwear made? And who decides on the absorbent qualities of the gusset? Joe embarks on an odyssey to the new factory of the world, China, to trace his underwear back to their source. Along the way he discovers the extraordinarily balanced and intricate web of contacts and exchanges that makes global trade possible-and is rapidly elevating China to the status of world economic superpower. He also grapples with chopsticks, challenges his own prejudices, and marvels at the contrasts in one of the world's oldest but fastest changing societies. Funny, wise, and insightful, Where Underpants Come From is a wonderful and timely picture of the developed world's dependence on China to make all the bits and pieces of our lives-everything from toothbrushes to overhead projectors and artificial kidneys.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (July 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590202287
• ISBN-13: 978-1590202289
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #268,805 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, July 16, 2009

By	Agatha "Reader" (Wild West) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Underpants Come from: From Checkout to Cotton Field - Travels Through the New China (Paperback)

While vacationing in NZ, spotted this book in a number of Kiwi's hands. Decided to buy a copy. Fun read.
Aside from the interesting adventures of author Joe Bennett, this is a timely study of China today. I will
never think the same way about China again.

5.0 out of 5 stars So much more than underpants, October 21, 2009

By	PWJ (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews

I originally picked up this book because of the title alone. It made me laugh. But I was pleased to discover that even more than telling me the interesting (yes, interesting) details of how underpants get made and shipped, the book would give me an intimate view into the daily lives of ordinary Chinese men and women. And because the author is reporting what he saw and smelled and experienced himself, there's a great sense of authenticity to the view he presents. I didn't expect to come away from this book with a greater understanding of the economic, cultural, and environmental changes in China, but I did!

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly recommended and lively, fun discussion, October 17, 2009

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

WHERE UNDERPANTS COME FROM is a livelier, better book discussing the new global economy. It began when the author bought a six-pack of underwear in his local supermarket for less than five dollars and wondered who could possibly profit from the price. His investigations led to China, where he traced his underwear to their makers and discovered some realities of global exchange and business that are easily absorbed here by both business students and general collections catering to world travelers or world culture fans. A highly recommended and lively, fun discussion.