Yet Another China Book That Might Make My Head Explode If I Read It

2010-01-06

Oy. This one makes all the other crappy pop-business China books look scholarly and well-informed by comparison. Kind of what a China book would look like if it was co-authored by L. Ron Hubbard and Dr. Phil.

Update: Just listened to a radio interview given by the authors of the book. It was quite impressive. They really know what they are talking about regarding China politics and economic development.

Which really makes me wonder why they would write such a book that, among other things, uses a trite and oversimplified metaphor of developing China as a corporation and Deng Xiaoping as a CEO.

The people I heard in the interview appear to be very different from the folks who wrote the book, or at least the excerpts I read on Amazon.

I hate it when complex subjects are "dumbed down" to that sort of pablum. Maybe some editor convinced the authors that such an approach would be more accessible or something? Bad idea.

I also have the feeling that the book is being used to push a consulting business, so it's hard to take it as seriously as a more academic study. But fair enough, everyone's gotta make a living.

Tags: China News