Due to a mix-up, Oliver August stumbles onto the hunt for China's most wanted man, Lai Changxing, an illiterate tycoon on the run from corruption charges. Sensing something emblematic in this outsized tale of rise and fall, August sets out to find the self-made billionaire, in the hope that if he can understand how Lai reinvented himself, he will also better understand the tectonic forces transforming modern China. Lai embodies the story of China's recent success as well as its Achilles' heel: the blending of its command economy with the free market is riddled with corruption. Moving ever closer to the elusive tycoon, August introduces us to a people in the midst of head-spinning self-transformation. We meet a nightclub hostess and her gaggle of "Miss Temporaries"; powerful businessmen on a debt-settling round of nocturnal golf; and a foie gras king who markets his goose liver by the ton and prefers it deep fried. This is a China seething with desire, engaged in a slapstick fight with its past, and hell bent on the future. Inside the Red Mansion is the first book to capture the giddy vibe of contemporary China and its darker vulnerabilities.
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"I picked this book up after reading an article by Oliver August in this month's Inside the Red Mansion is more a story about China's rocky political transformation than it is about Lai, the fugitive the book is framed around. This book gives a vivid sense of living in the seedy underworld of China." — Corinne (4 out of 5 stars)
"I picked this book up after reading an article by Oliver August in this month's Inside the Red Mansion is more a story about China's rocky political transformation than it is about Lai, the fugitive the book is framed around. This book gives a vivid sense of living in the seedy underworld of China."
“This must-read, can’t-put-it down tale shows the China only hinted at on the evening news—a place of outsized egos, over-the-top commercial development and shadowy, tradition-bound authoritarian rule.”
[Narrator Simon Vance] not only manages the innumerable scene, character, and plot transitions clearly, he also slips seamlessly between English and Mandarin.... Vance demonstrates why he's a multiple Earphones Award winner.
" I guess the book was interesting but could have been half the length. He didnt make any new points after about 100 pages. If you are interested in China it might be worth skimming. "
" Searching for the allegedly most wanted man in China. "
" Het viel mee. Maar China Road en Lost on Planet China waren veel beter. "
" It's not the most exciting premise, but while the author is on the trail of the "most wanted man," he examines the lives of ordinary Chinese and how they are dealing with a new capitalist system. And he has a lesbian sidekick! "
" Interesting to learn more about daily life/biz in China but this story didnt need a whole book. "
" Pengejaran berita tentang koruptor no.1 di Cina yang tiada henti dari penulis. "
Oliver August studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University, then joined the Times of London to become its youngest-ever New York correspondent. He spent seven years in China as Beijing bureau chief and then moved to the Middle East in 2006.
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.
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