Kosher Chinese

An irreverent tale of an American Jew serving in the Peace Corps in rural China, which reveals the absurdities, joys, and pathos of a traditional society in flux

In September of 2005, the Peace Corps sent Michael Levy to teach English in the heart of China's heartland. His hosts in the city of Guiyang found additional uses for him: resident expert on Judaism, romantic adviser, and provincial basketball star, to name a few. His account of overcoming vast cultural differences to befriend his students and fellow teachers is by turns poignant and laugh-out-loud funny.

While reveling in the peculiarities of life in China's interior, the author also discovered that the "other billion" (people living far from the coastal cities covered by the American media) have a complex relationship with both their own traditions and the rapid changes of modernization. Lagging behind in China's economic boom, they experience the darker side of "capitalism with Chinese characteristics," daily facing the schizophrenia of conflicting ideologies.

Kosher Chinese is an illuminating account of the lives of the residents of Guiyang, particularly the young people who will soon control the fate of the world.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Holt McDougal
Published: 07/05/2011
ISBN: 9780805091960
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 0.80d
Award: Discover Great New Writers - Winner

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2011
Publishers Weekly 02/14/2011
Library Journal 06/01/2011 pg. 111
Booklist 06/01/2011 pg. 10
Entertainment Weekly 07/08/2011 pg. 113