Reviews for Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man, Vol. 10

The average rating for Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man, Vol. 10 based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-08-08 00:00:00 James King a very readable and fascinating account of present-day china through the eyes of a british journalist (former bureau chief of the times) as he investigates the spectacular rags-to-riches rise and fall of lai changxing, a former farmer who made billions smuggling various goods like cars into mainland china. supposedly lai was able to smuggle so much into the country (and build large skyscrapers and his own folly of an exact replica of the forbidden city) because the gov't allowed him to (via a massive bribery system/turning of the proverbial blind eye). and supposedly lai's efforts helped stimulate china's economy, until he got too big for his britches and had to disappear. along the way august oliver unveils a fascinating country (and its peoples) where the best way to get ahead is through "banditry." at the same time the gov't can step in anytime with a scary, creepy orwellian swagger. well written in an informative journalistic way, with very good insight into a country that is increasingly becoming a major, major real-time presence on the global scene.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-01-19 00:00:00 Paul Anderson Inspired by Mr August's journalism style, I've been planning to write a book about Barack Obama. I'm going to wander around Chicago, catch a game at Wrigley field, eat some deep dish pizza, see if I can get into a taping of Oprah, and then suddenly realize Obama has gone to Washington D.C. I'll spend the final chapter comparing the pizza in DC to the pizza in Chicago, wondering how Obama is possibly going to govern a country with two such different interpretations of this classic Italian dish. I've already written the last chapter and--trust me--you're going to love it!