I’ve been trying to spread the word about the book, and thanks to the folks at Simon & Schuster, I have been a guest on ten radio talk shows so far — in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Albuquerque and, as of today, Dallas.
For someone who has been living in China the past seven years, the most interesting things about these interviews (and about the talks I’ve been giving at bookstores and other venues) are the questions from listeners. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because I wasn’t sure what Americans knew about China, but I have to say I have been impressed by the quality of the questions. Americans, at least the kind who call in to radio programs and go to book events, seem to be thinking hard about China.
I received some very good questions from callers in the Dallas area today, for example. You can download or listen to the hour-long interview with me on Think, the program hosted by Krys Boyd on the local NPR affiliate KERA, by clicking this link.
Also today, the Christian Science Monitor published a nice review of the book here.
And, finally, a request for your help. If you use Facebook and liked the book, please consider visiting the Out of Mao’s Shadow page on Facebook and becoming a “fan.” This sends a non-intrusive message to your friends on Facebook. You might also consider writing a review on Amazon. Thanks!
Andrew J. Nathan — a distinguished political scientist at Columbia University, and one of my favorite China scholars — has written a very kind review of Out of Mao’s Shadow for The Washington Post’s Book World section. You can read it here.
It was a pleasant surprise on Sunday to see Prof. Nathan’s piece because the Book World editors are serious about protecting the integrity of the process and very careful about keeping information about pending reviews from the rest of the newsroom, especially those of us who are new authors!
The book has received a strong first round of reviews, along with mentions in a variety of summer reading lists. (My wife Sarah was disappointed it did not appear on the summer list in O, the Oprah Magazine. C’mon, Oprah, your readers want to learn about China!)
Here are links to some of the reviews:
Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review (Scroll down)
Time Magazine, a must read in the Skimmer
Bloomberg News, “Mao Lives On in Tales of Blind Activist, Mad Poetess, Red Guard” Despite the odd headline, a good review by the former British MP and diplomat George Walden.
The New York Sun, “Letters from China, Written in Blood” The reviewer is Gordon G. Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China, and one of the few who think I was too soft on the Communist Party.
The Seattle Times, “China’s Unsung Heroes Face a Losing Battle, but Fight On”
The Rocky Mountain News
Fortune/CNNMoney.com
