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Title: Insightful!
Review: Squarely addressed to people with scant knowledge of China, this anecdotal excursion into the economics of the Middle Kingdom is dilettantish in the best sense of the word. Those who know China will learn only illustrative tales here, but those who do not know China will learn what even the most scrupulously accurate journalists cannot always convey: the feel of the place. Author Ted C. Fishman explores Shanghai shops, Shenzhen factories and markets for female companionship euphemistically known as karaoke halls, and he manages to put everything in the context of China's economic development. No doubt many readers will come away convinced that China is a threat - indeed, part of the author's purpose is to show how China challenges the world. He does that convincingly by alternating vignettes of China with vignettes of America. Critics may quibble, and not without reason, that the book is superficial, uncritical and nave. Granted. But we counter: it's a heck of a read.
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