Anyway, here is the first review, from Joanne Johnson (a three star review):
"A decent account of an average guy living in Taiwan. His complaints get a little tiresome, though. I began to wonder why he stayed so long, and wrote about the experience, if he were so miserable."
I wasn't miserable. I enjoyed my life in Taiwan. Sure I had complaints, but there wasn't a single foreigner I met in Taiwan who didn't have complaints about Taiwan. There is just so much to complain about, but that doesn't mean I hated the place. Our decision to leave was mostly based on having children. If we didn't have children, I likely would have stayed longer.
The next review, from CK (4 stars):
"I really enjoyed reading this book, but then I've had a similar life abroad as Ken and could relate to a lot of his experiences. Anyone who has been to China or Taiwan will appreciate his anecdotes, which are generally spot on. And if you're interested in living or teaching in this part of Asia, this is also a good resource to let you know what's in store. Ken sheds a lot of light on the inner workings of "cram schools" and how easy/hard it is to get by on an EFL teacher's salary.
In fact, what really stood out to me in this book is how honest Ken is in sharing his personal life with the reader. The book includes photographs of people close to him and stories about his ex-wife, siblings, and in-laws that I don't think I would have the guts to divulge in my own writing. The teaching chapters are fun and useful, but it's the stuff about dating, raising a family, and dealing with his Taiwanese parents-in-law that make this a truly unique read.
One thing you should be aware of, though, is that the book is a direct copy of the author's (now closed) blog. I'm not all that bothered if a blogger wants to monetize what they wrote online, but Ken keeps referring to the chapters here as "blog posts" and at one point even asks you to leave a comment at the end of the article. Um... seriously? These kind of moments broke the flow. I would have liked to see a little more editing take place before the book was published. Likewise, An American Teacher is full of grammatical typos that are harder to forgive coming from an English teacher.
So I gotta knock off a star for the presentation, but don't let that deter you. This is definitely a good story and is one of the better "teacher abroad" memoirs I've read."
This was a nice review, and I have to admit that I feel a bit embarrassed that I didn't catch all the typos and grammatical errors. It was a big book (356 pages) and I had to edit it myself. I can't really afford a professional editor. I've fixed all the errors that I've spotted and re-uploaded the file, so anyone who has bought the book recently should have a (slightly) improved version. I also took out the chapter about "Kung Pao Chicken" (I just felt it didn't fit) and I added a new chapter about visiting the seedy side of Hong Kong (something I felt was too X rated to talk about on the blog.)
And finally, here's another one from A. Jeffers (5 stars):
"I first stumbled upon this book back in early 2009 when it was still a semi-active blog. At that time I was still in college and had recently returned to the US from my first trip to Taiwan with my Taiwanese girlfriend. I was curious about living and teaching in Taiwan after graduation.
As soon as I came across this blog (now book), I read through the whole thing in about 4 hours. It was compulsively readable, and "I couldn't put it down", as they say. The writing was accessible, the experiences were interesting, and the reader soon feels as if the author--who brings valuable perspective as a typical Everyman foreigner-- is their friend and travel guide. The author covers a lot of ground, from finding work, to starting relationships, to teaching English classes, and even raising kids in a foreign culture. What is more unique than all of this, though, are the plain-spoken descriptions of everyday life of an English teacher in Taiwan from the perspective of a relatively uninformed newcomer.
Judged solely as a piece of writing, this clearly is not a high-caliber literary effort. On the contrary, it is simply a published blog, written by an Average Joe. But for me, that's what makes it so great. It is a well-documented experience of a regular guy who finds work and love in Taiwan and rejuvenates his life in the process. This book is exactly what it claims to be, and it provided valuable perspective and ultimately helped me in my decision to move to Taiwan after graduation, where I still am, happily teaching English and studying Chinese.
As someone with a Taiwanese girlfriend who was already considering moving to Taiwan to teach English, I found this book to be an invaluable resource for its unfiltered presentation of what it's really like to live and teach here. Admittedly, though, my situation made this book much more relevant for me than for the average reader. Having been in Taiwan for about a year and half now, I can attest that the author's observations and descriptions are generally quite accurate. I will say, though, that his perspective is significantly hindered by the fact that he never seriously tried to learn the Chinese language. That is my only criticism.
In the end, I do not rate this book highly as a piece of literature, but simply for the accessibility and truthfulness of the insights it provides to living and teaching in Taiwan.
If you're curious about teaching English in Asia, life in Taiwan, and multicultural relationships, I bet you'll enjoy this book."
This is a good review as well, though this reviewer did manage a few jabs at my writing style. It was always my intention to write simple and deliberate. If you want to read a blog about life in Taiwan that's far more pretentious than mine, I would recommend my friend David's blog, "Meigouren Adventures" He also complains a lot more than I do.
Actually, I wanted to learn Chinese. I really did. When I first arrived, I started doing language exchange with this really cute Taiwanese girl who spoke terrible English. Once I met Christy, I stopped seeing that girl, even though our relationship never turned romantic. I also wanted to enroll in a class in Hsinchu to learn Chinese, but again Christy put her foot down. She didn't want me spending money on something that she felt she could teach me herself. She wanted to be my sole Chinese instructor, either out of cheapness or insecurity. I don't know which...possibly both. Now, I don't want to put all of the blame on my lack of learning Chinese on Christy, but....65% sounds good. :)
2 comments:
I don't understand why you say the reviews were all pretty good, they were not at all good
They haven't just been pretty good, they've been great. All of my books are at 4 and 5 star levels. I have two books on the best-seller list and every month I sell more books than the previous month. I've already sold several thousand copies of one book alone. I couldn't be happier.
Yeah, there's been a couple of troll reviews (which were clearly bogus) and people saw through them. I actually saw my sales increase after my last troll review.
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