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My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing
HarperCollins
March 2011
On Sale: March 1, 2011
Featuring: Alan Paul
267 pages
ISBN: 0061993158
EAN: 9780061993152
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
The inspiring story of a man, a family, a band, a foreign
country, and a new beginning When Alan Paul's wife was offered the job as the Wall
Street Journal's China bureau chief, he saw it as an
amazing opportunity to shake up their increasingly staid
suburban New Jersey life. Excited and not a little scared,
they packed up their three children—ages two, four, and
seven—and headed for adventure and uncertainty in Beijing,
China. Based on his award-winning Wall Street
Journal Online column, "The Expat Life," Big in
China explores Paul's unlikely three-and-a-half-year
journey of reinvention in this rapidly developing
metropolis. He reveals the challenges that he and his family
faced while living in a foreign land, including reaching
beyond the expat community, coming to terms with his new
role as a stay-at-home dad, and learning to navigate and
thrive in an unfamiliar culture. By viewing an intimidating
challenge as a golden opportunity rather than as a burden,
he saw his world open up around him. At the heart of
the memoir is his time fronting Woodie Alan, a blues band he
formed with a Chinese partner. The cross-cultural
collaboration became an unlikely success. The band embarked
on a tour across China, earning the title "Best Band in
Beijing" and recording an acclaimed CD of original music
sung in both English and Mandarin, which prompted ZZ Top's
Billy Gibbons to say, "This is the best Chinese blues band I
ever heard. Who knew?" Woodie Alan was symbolic of Paul's
entire China experience and-proof of what transpires when
one can suspend preconceived notions and plunge into a new
reality. A testament to the transformative power of a
life lived beyond comfortable borders, Big in China
reminds us of the importance of always keeping our horizons
wide and our thoughts ambitious.
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