Vignettes of Taiwan | 
 enlarge | Author: Joshua Samuel Brown
Publisher: ThingsAsian Press
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $8.11
You Save: $4.84 (37%)
New (12) Used (7) from $8.00
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 279275
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Edition: Ill
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 158
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4
ISBN: 0971594082
Dewey Decimal Number: 915
EAN: 9780971594081
ASIN: 0971594082
Publication Date: April 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When Joshua Samuel Brown first stepped out of the passenger terminal at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport in Taiwan, he was a stranger in a humid land with insufficient funds, zero job prospects and an over packed suitcase. Like much else in his life up to that point, his decision to move to Taiwan was based largely on random occurrence and cosmic coincidence. He was twenty-four years old, thousands of miles away from home, and at that moment the happiest man alive. This anthology of short stories, travel essays, photographs, random meditations, and political meanderings grew out of his years on the island formerly known as Formosa.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Alright...but not five stars! June 24, 2008
I thought that this book would be quite good, given the number of five star reviews it received by other Amazon.com users. Instead, I found it mediocre. The humor displayed by the author is interesting, certainly, but for those who really wish to learn anything deep about Taiwan and its people, this is not the book to look to. However, if you simply wish to read a mildly entertaining book, then this book would be fine.
 An Interesting Look at an Interesting Country October 26, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Vignettes of Taiwan makes for good reading. For anyone interested in learning more about Taiwan, Republic of China this isn't a bad place to start. The tone oscillates between academic and comedic and although it is rather small, there is lots to stimulate your intellectual and exploratory curiosity; much like the Chinese island-nation itself.
Troy Parfitt, author
Better then the Bible (any kind) September 11, 2006
2 out of 13 found this review helpful
What a thrill, what a depth of knowledge crammed in this tiny book...the understanding the author shows for this land and it's people overwhelms me...and I thought I like Chinese food before I read this book...oh my...who knew???
My only complaint is the scant bulk of this tome...not weighty enough to keep a broken window open...but cheap enough to mail to all the relatives...
Buy this book,
Joshua's Mother
I Was Blind, But Now I See... May 17, 2006
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
I thought that I had a good understanding of Eastern culture. I was wrong. Where was Mr. Brown when we were making ill-fated decisions like the bombing of Cambodia?
Anyway, this book is so funny that I think that I've soiled myself again.
Hemingway meets Lao Tzu May 16, 2006
6 out of 17 found this review helpful
Joshua Samuel Brown is the Mahatma Gandhi of restaurant criticism, the Rudyard Kipling of professional boxing, the Lance Armstrong of economic planning. His voice shines in this magnificent exposition of over a decade of perplexing customs and offensive odors.
Proud and misunderstood like Taiwan itself, Mr. Brown regales us with tales of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, betel nuts, and how to avoid jail time by impersonating a mormon.
This is a book to be read aloud by the fireside while snacking on extremely sour dried fruits and squid jerky.
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