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Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch Audiobook
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(2.00) - 862 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Following his runaway best seller, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie gives us a delightful new tale of East meets West: an adventure both wry and uplifting about a love of dreams and the dream of love, and the power of reading to sustain and inspire the spirit. After years of studying Freud in Paris, Mr. Muo returns home to introduce the blessings of psychoanalysis to twenty-first-century China. But it is his hidden purpose—to liberate his university sweetheart, now a political prisoner—that leads him to the sadistic local magistrate, Judge Di. The price of the Communist bureaucrat’s clemency? A virgin maiden. And so our middle-aged hero Muo, a Westernized romantic and sexual innocent himself, sets off on his bicycle in search of a suitable girl. Muo’s quest will take him from a Chengdu mortuary to a rural panda habitat, from an insane asylum to the haunts of the marauding Lolo people. Along the way, he will lose a tooth, his virginity, and his once unshakable faith in psychoanalytic insight. But his quixotic idealism will not waver, even as he comes to see that the chivalrous heart may have room for more than one true love. Dai Sijie’s exuberant, touching—and most unlikely—romance is a triumph of unbridled imagination, a celebration of the yearning spirit.
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"This is a great book about a fumbling man who somehow manages to make you want to cheer for him, even if you don't like him all the time."
— anilia (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Fans of Dai Sijie’s Balzac will adore this enchanting adventure story.”
— Chicago Tribune -
“Always entertaining…A bawdy, comic romp [that] takes our hero into all kinds of wild scrapes and adventures.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“The book becomes an opportunity for Wong to luxuriate in the sound of Sijie's words and in his own voice. Wong makes his own performance the centerpiece of his reading, and his audacious willingness to place himself at the forefront is a gamble that pays off handsomely, providing a holistic unity that elevates this audiobook over the run of its peers.”
— Publishers Weekly, starred audio review
Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch Listener Reviews
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" Remember...this is not a serious tale! "
— Kari, 2/18/2014 -
" Same vein as Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. "
— Amy, 2/13/2014 -
" entertaining book. There is a minor character for you Eric, his mother is a linguist! "
— Anna, 2/9/2014 -
" Fanstatic premise. Highly disappointing. "
— Kristin, 2/5/2014 -
" This book was somewhat disappointing, especially in comparison to Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress...while the author's humorous style of writing is still apparent, the characters are much less charming. The plot is not as uplifting, and even seems to wander aimlessly for a while! I also found myself just reading to finish the book, rather than reading to enjoy it. Again, somewhat disappointing. "
— Susan, 1/26/2014 -
" I didn't much like this book (though admittedly, I didn't finish it). It's amusing in a clever/witty way, but was translated from French and I think the prose suffered as a result. "
— Catherine, 1/19/2014 -
" It took time for me to emerge myself in this book. There were bits of humor and irony but was not a spectacular follow up to his first book, Balzac and the Seamstres. "
— Bree, 12/22/2013 -
" Unfortunately, I was expecting a different China than this one and the character is really annoying. The writing is fine, just not into the story.... "
— Jana, 12/18/2013 -
" Turn my stomach when it wasn't boring me "
— M, 11/30/2013 -
" Had to give up on this one. "
— Stephanie, 8/19/2013 -
" I couldn't finish this book(I did get half way through it). The storyline is...Mr. Muo is a psychiatrist in search of interpreting other people's dreams and on a quest for a virgin. "
— Cathy, 6/15/2013 -
" Good, but too slow-moving for my mood. I didn't finish it. "
— kellie, 6/8/2013 -
" I remember reading this and thinking it was an odd book. But I kept reading. And I enjoyed it. Odd as it was. "
— Grizzarkhov, 3/31/2013 -
" Ugggghhhhhhhhh....... "
— Kristina, 3/16/2013 -
" I enjoyed Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, but didn't like this title by Sijie as much. I had a lot of trouble connecting with the protagonist, and the story just has some weird/icky elements that just didn't do it for me. "
— Erin, 1/22/2013 -
" Virginity and Freud set in China....hmmmm. "
— Danielle, 6/3/2012 -
" Definitely not as good as his previous book. Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch still has its moments, but on the whole, a bit of a disappointment. "
— Napoleon, 3/22/2012 -
" It was OK. Didn't keep my interest like Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. "
— Abranch71, 6/30/2011 -
" Wow, this book did not hold my interest one bit. All that psycho-babble bored me to tears. The only redeeming feature was that B.D. Wong was narrating. I only listened to half of it before I gave up and cut my losses and moved on. "
— Leslie, 6/16/2011 -
" Perhaps you need to know China to understand this book - I just didn't get it. Didn't connect to the characters. Couldn't find a plot. "
— Nancy, 5/23/2011 -
" I've never read Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress, but I have a feeling it has exactly the same plot/themes while being far better. "
— Amy, 1/22/2011 -
" I couldn't finish this book(I did get half way through it). The storyline is...Mr. Muo is a psychiatrist in search of interpreting other people's dreams and on a quest for a virgin. "
— Cathy, 1/10/2011 -
" It took time for me to emerge myself in this book. There were bits of humor and irony but was not a spectacular follow up to his first book, Balzac and the Seamstres. "
— Bree, 5/5/2010 -
" Nothing special, being honest... yeat few quite good moments of everyday China. "
— Riina, 4/29/2010 -
" Okay, I dont know if I can officially review a book I didn't finish but I just could not get in to this book and gave up on it early on. "
— Valerie, 4/18/2010 -
" Bizarre...and I don't think that was due to reading it in translation. If you like Freudian psychology, you might have a heyday with this book, but I didn't quite see the point. I will say it kept me intrigued. "
— Maria, 12/10/2009
About B. D. Wong
B.D. Wong was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He made his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly. He is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award for the same performance. He starred in the television series All-American Girl, and has made guest appearances on Sesame Street and The X-Files.