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Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China Paperback – January 1, 2009
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperCollins India
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2009
- Dimensions7.87 x 1.97 x 9.84 inches
- ISBN-108172238460
- ISBN-13978-8172238469
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Product details
- Publisher : HarperCollins India (January 1, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 8172238460
- ISBN-13 : 978-8172238469
- Item Weight : 8.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 7.87 x 1.97 x 9.84 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,855,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,724 in Political Parties (Books)
- #193,590 in Social Sciences (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Award winning journalist and author Pallavi Aiyar spent six years living in a hutong home in the heart of the old imperial city of Beijing. She reported from across China for the Hindu and Indian Express in addition to teaching English at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute. She is the winner of the 2007 Prem Bhatia Memorial Award for excellence in political reporting and analysis for her dispatches from China.
Her book Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China won the Vodafone-Crossword Popular Book Award for 2008.
She currently lives in Brussels with her husband, son and two Chinese cats, where she writes about Europe for the Business Standard.
Pallavi has degrees in Philosophy, History and Media Sociology from St Stephens
College Delhi University, Oxford and the London School of Economics.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book an excellent read with fascinating chapters and episodes.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book an excellent, easy read. They also appreciate the modesty and lack of boastfulness.
"...What I also really enjoyed, was that the book was written with modesty and none of the boastfulness which is prevalent in many similar "foreigner in..." Read more
"...All this and more is looked at in depth in a highly readable piece of reporting." Read more
"Small and easy read. Was expecting too much after reading some rave reviews elsewhere. Obviously the reviewers were not my wavelength :-)...." Read more
"Good book if you want to understand understand India and China with both positive and negative sides" Read more
Customers find the book fascinating, informative, factual, entertaining, and balanced with a good mix. They also say there is a broad variety of topics covered within the book.
"...There was a broad variety of topics covered within the book, but not to the point of creating an ad hoc feel to it, the continuity remained...." Read more
"insightful, sensitive, balanced - I recommend for everyone to ready it, not only readers interested in China and southeast Asia!" Read more
"...Some chapters and episodes are fascinating. I did not know much of Chinese social life and was left informed...." Read more
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Obviously her Indian background and the resultant comparisions between India and China allowed for a fresh and unique perspective, and this was a big drawcard here for me. Prior to reading this book I'd always assumed the two countries to have many parallels but the author opened my eyes to some great differences between them (and also confirmed for me other aspects which I'd assumed to be true), particularly regarding levels of poverty and differences in attitudes towards religion.
What I also really enjoyed, was that the book was written with modesty and none of the boastfulness which is prevalent in many similar "foreigner in China" books. The author didn't harp on about becoming "more and more Chinese", didn't drown the book in quotes from Confucius and others, didn't feel the need to show off her new language skills to the reader, didn't carry on as if she was the only foreigner on Chinese soil etc. I really liked how level headed she was and didn't come with any of the "China expert" ego that often tarnishes these books for me.
There was a broad variety of topics covered within the book, but not to the point of creating an ad hoc feel to it, the continuity remained. Most things you can think of related to China were covered in the book (and often cross-examined with their counterparts in India) ... politics, travel, industry, food, religion, living conditions, health etc. etc., yet the book never became too bogged down in any one aspect. You had a bit of everything here, from Christmas in Beijing, to dam projects in Yunnan, the Qinghai-Tibet railway and all in between ...
Also of appeal to me was that she didn't bore me with endless irrelevant personal tales. There was enough of her daily life and personality given to make me warm to her and have me know that I was reading a memoir not a textbook, but the main focus remained on the bigger issues she was presenting. Yes, due to the background of the author, the book did maintain somewhat of a journalistic feel but it wasn't like watching the nightly news.
I strongly recommend this one and it is by far one of the top books in this sub-genre for me.

