Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid

Additional Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid Information

The bestselling author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals returns with a sharply observed, hilarious account of his adventures in China—a complex, fascinating country with enough dangers and delicacies to keep him, and readers, endlessly entertained.

Maarten Troost has charmed legions of readers with his laugh-out-loud tales of wandering the remote islands of the South Pacific. When the travel bug hit again, he decided to go big-time, taking on the world’s most populous and intriguing nation. In Lost on Planet China, Troost escorts readers on a rollicking journey through the new beating heart of the modern world, from the megalopolises of Beijing and Shanghai to the Gobi Desert and the hinterlands of Tibet.

Lost on Planet China finds Troost dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai; eating Yak in Tibet; deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as Cattle Penis with Garlic); visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead, very orange); and hiking (with 80,000 other people) up Tai Shan, China’s most revered mountain. But in addition to his trademark gonzo adventures, the book also delivers a telling look at a vast and complex country on the brink of transformation that will soon shape the way we all work, live, and think. As Troost shows, while we may be familiar with Yao Ming or dim sum or the cheap, plastic products that line the shelves of every store, the real China remains a world—indeed, a planet--unto itself.

Maarten Troost brings China to life as you’ve never seen it before, and his insightful, rip-roaringly funny narrative proves that once again he is one of the most entertaining and insightful armchair travel companions around.

What Customers Say About Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid:

This is written by a citizen without a country. It is a tolerable but superficial view of what any amateur traveler could find as obvious. I found it to be immature and disappointing. A reader deserves better for his money than we got.

Did he answer the question and I missed it. I liked this book because I am a fan of Troost. He is gifted and has a unique way of conveying his travel adventures.I thought the point of the book was, "Should Maarten move his family to China." During the last chapter I kept waiting for Maarten's Yes or No answer to the question. Did he move there. Anyway, I would rate this his 3rd best book because the previous two were outstanding.Mik

This book is recommended on a few levels. If you've never read Troost's stuff, it feels more like you're hanging out with him than reading his books. This is a great lap around China, with hilarity and history thrown in. First, anyone who enjoys a good Theroux or Bryson book will love this. He's done an excellent job at putting much of China's complex past in a capsule, as well as painting just how astounding (yet often frustrating) the country is. This book feels more like "travel writing" than his last two but this is not necessarily a bad thing - his commentary works well in this environment as well. Second, it's a fantastic way to get a geographic lay of the land in question. And third, it's really f***king funny.

After J Maarten Troost spent all the time and money to travel through (parts of) China, he had no choice but to write a book. You however have a choice as to whether to buy the book, and I recommend you don't. There are many books that give an honest appraisal of the pluses and minuses (and yes as one who has traveled there, there are many minuses including the pollution), but this is not one of them.

I'm a sucker for off-the-beaten-path, tell-it-like-it-is, humorous travelogues, and Maarten Troost doesn't disappoint in "Lost on Planet China." His tales of being a Westerner throughout the vast land of China are alternately gasp-inducing, stomach-churning, and rip-roaring hilarious. Whether he's dealing with the yellowish haze of Beijing or trekking up the country's tallest mountains, Troost takes his readers along and pulls no punches. I would willingly read more of his books, but I really could do without the occasional Bush-bashing that adds nothing to the story and merely makes him look whiny in that "let's throw rocks at the Republicans" sort of way.