Troost charmed listeners with his humorous tales of wandering the remote islands of the South Pacific in The Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned with Savages. When the travel bug bit again, he took on the world’s most populous and intriguing nation.
As Troost relates his gonzo adventure—dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai, eating yak in Tibet, deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as cattle penis with garlic), and visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead)—he reveals a vast, complex country on the brink of transformation that will shape the way we all work, live, and think. This insightful, hilarious narrative brings China to life as you’ve never seen it before.
J. Maarten Troost’s essays have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post, and the Prague Post. After two years in the Pacific, he was hired as a consultant by the World Bank. He spent several years in Fiji then relocated to the United States and now lives with his family in Monterey, California.
Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.