Sam Lowe was
your average, working Joe with a good lease on life. Although never in a rush,
his search for the "nice Jewish girl" continued on, even if only to
please his Jewish parents. Sadly, he never quite made it down the aisle...or
even on a second date for that matter.
After
realizing that he was being used as "a pawn in their underhanded game of corporate politics"
and is jetted off to schmooze and bring
home the bacon, fate brings him Linda Liu, a stunning Asian beauty. (32) How
could he think that this was the woman for him when she barely spoke any
English?
Nonetheless, he soon pops the
question to her and she gladly accepts...however, there was one small caveat:
"No have mother’s approval, no can marry." (64) So off to Taiwan he
goes, to a far-away place several time zones away, where he was deemed the
"white devil."
It's true what he says about
Asians fearing the number 4 just because the Mandarin words sounds eerily familiar
to death. Sound strange, no? Just like Caucasians fearing the number 13.
Story
carried a refreshing voice full of cleverness and wit. Readers will chuckle at
his little anecdotes. There was a little lag here and there, and I thought that
he explained rather too much at times, filling your head with loads of trivia
and history; but, luckily, it doesn't
drag for long and quickly picks up once he gets to the "stinky tofu"
of his journey. Throughout his adventure, Sam finds fault with his
assimilation; he struggles to get by on the Chinglish; and he must eat chicken
feet, thousand-year old eggs, and, of course, the rotting, smelling tofu dish. Yum!
It was such
a wild and zany clash of cultures. I especially enjoyed the character's
comparison between the Asian and American cultures, how he breaks down
stereotypes and finds a grain of truth and humor in all of it.
Readers will
enjoy the tests and trials of this "goofy American." This book is a
hoot!
My rating: 3.5 stars
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