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Alan Paul

Big in China: My Unlikely Adventure Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Reinventing Myself in Beijing Paperback – 15 February 2012

by Alan Paul (Author)

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Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harpercollins
Publication date

15 February 2012
Dimensions

13.49 x 1.55 x 20.32 cm
ISBN-10

0061993166
ISBN-13

978-0061993169
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harpercollins; Reprint edition (15 February 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061993166
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061993169
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.49 x 1.55 x 20.32 cm

Customer Reviews:
75 ratings

About the author

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Alan Paul

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Alan Paul is the author of the Top Ten New York Times Bestseller One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band.

His first book Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing (Harper) is currently being developed as a film by Ivan Reitman's Montecito Pictures. Big in China is a memoir about raising three American children in Beijing and the unlikely success of his Chinese blues band, Woodie Alan.

Paul is a senior writer for Guitar World and a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal. He wrote "The Expat Life" column for the Wall Street Journal Online from 2005- 2009. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists named him 2008 Online Columnist of the Year. He also reported from Beijing for NBC, Sports Illustrated, the WSJ, and other media outlets.

Woodie Alan, featuring three Chinese musicians and one other American, was named 2008's Best Band in Beijing. Their debut CD, Beijing Blues (Guitar China Records), has been praised by ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, the Allman Brothers' Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, guitarist Joe Bonamassa, blues harp master Charlie Musselwhite and jam band legend Col. Bruce Hampton who termed the music "simply amazing."

Alan, his wife Rebecca Blumenstein, and their three children reside in Maplewood, NJ.

Please visit www.alanpaul.net or www.facebook.com/alanpaulauthor.

Customer reviews

5 star		63%
4 star		16%
3 star		14%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from other countries

kwmvanc

Very enjoyable

Reviewed in Canada on 17 September 2020

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I've read Alan Paul's book on the Allman Brothers and so, when I happened across this one, really enjoyed how the story began with his somewhat nerdy love of music and of the Allmans and blues in general. Then almost not wanting to go to China and just taking a flyer in support of his spouse and how it led to an extraordinary experience. Reminds me to take a chance and let fate take me where it may.

S. Kennedy

Great book by a great author

Reviewed in the United States on 2 June 2020

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Alan Paul has written about The Allman Brothers (One Way Out) and co-written about Stevie Ray Vaughn (Texas Flood) and has written numerous articles about the blues/rock music and musicians he loves. This happens to be his first book about..well..himself and his he, out of his deep love for his wife, ended up uprooting himself, his wife and kids from New Jersey where his family and friends were and moving to China for an awesome career opportunity his wife had been offered. This is a love story, as well as a story of self discovery as he became part of a band that was...Big in China!

One person found this helpful

Bud

Easy reading and an interesting story

Reviewed in the United States on 17 February 2015

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Easy reading and an interesting story. Having lived in various countries for extended periods I can appreciate many of his comments and insights about expats in foreign countries. His desire and willingness to go beyond the protective environment he was placed in is admirable. As he comments, many expats who have this same opportunity choose to isolate themselves in the closed protected community and count the days until their posting ends. Hooray for Alan Paul for documenting his experiences and enjoying what presented itself in this three year assignment. This book should be on the recommended reading list for anyone thinking of moving to a foreign country whether as a company move, or as an individual or family without the benefits he and his family were afforded by his company.

Personally I would have liked a few more details, but still a great book.

One person found this helpful

verified purchaser

what a story teller

Reviewed in the United States on 22 March 2011

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Wow, what a story teller. Alan painted China with many shades of hues. The book is a page turner and a feast! The author shared his adventure and the book took the readers along for a wonderful ride! I can certainly feel the tempo, the beat and the rhythm from a doubtful entry into the thousand-day journey in a foreign land to the hours before his reluctant departure. There were no moments of boredom. I went through the book in one sitting. Then, I logged online and listened to "Beijing Blues (the studio version)" on YouTube. For me, who was born (long ago) in one of those disappearing hutongs in Beijing, the book, the music, and the pictures sent me right back to the old metropolis - the people, the traffic, the red-dust spring storms, the summer downpours rattled with roars of thunders and the aftermath - fresh, crisp, and the smell of electricity in the air. The book is far more than a travel log. The stories are infused with souls. Many would identify with Alan for the tug and pull of a modern man - the responsibilities of a father, a husband, a son and the man's own dream, career, and identity. Read it, it is enjoyable!

One person found this helpful

Paul F

Dreams... never judge a book by its cover

Reviewed in the United States on 19 June 2012

Verified Purchase

As a sinophile I love reading about the adventures of expats tackling the complex mystery that is China. A friend and I had the same conversation about this book, so I feel it is important to address it right here at the start for anyone who is thinking about buying. We both judged this book by its cover and I passed it up the first time I came across it. The faded cover, the author in a dinner jacket, the acoustic guitar... heck, I can almost make out Pan-Am on the fin of that jet. Alan Paul's adventure in China was anything but faded and washed out, it was a vibrant colorful adventure that made me teem with envy and fascination all while provoking laughter and some deep thoughts. Having read the book and knowing the story, the cover is charming to me now, but don't get the wrong impression.

Don't glance at the cover and assume, as I did, that it's about some folk singer who over a decade ago, did a 10 minute spot on Chinese TV. This is about a man who just a few years back packed up his wife and kids, boarded a jet for China, met a Chinese guitarist, jammed in some small bars, eventually became the front man for a Chinese/American band, which got voted Beijing's best, and played a large music festival in front of thousands of fans being introduced to good old fashioned Blues. Along the way the entire family had its share of adventures and journeys throughout China and we the reader get to meet an amazing cast of characters.

Alan is a fortunate man indeed. From reading the book it's clear that he has an incredible family and a talented wife whose expat package with a major publication helped make this adventure possible. It would be easy to begrudge Alan for such good fortune if he remained sheltered inside the gates of a posh expat community and didn't appreciate the potential for adventure outside those gates, but that is part of what makes this book special in my opinion, Alan goes beyond those gates and doesn't take for granted anyone or anything over the course of it all. Sure the musical journey was fascinating, but I loved reading about his forays outside those walls where a simple lunch alone could turn into a full on English lesson with a growing crowd eager to interact with a foreigner.

It's not just Alan's adventure. I enjoyed reading about how differently each of his kids and his wife were reacting not only to the band's development and rise, but to life in China. Or reading about his former Chinese teacher who must decide between a lucrative overseas job offer or to pursue his desire to become a monk at one of the five Daoist mountains. We also get a look into the lives and personalities of each of the band members and their struggles. With all that Alan had on his plate, it would be understandable if he forgot about some of the cast that were part of his story, but he doesn't and I think that is what appealed to me the most.

In the midst of all the madness Alan takes the time to seek out his former Chinese teacher, learns to cook with his housekeeper, and insists that their driver be part of the family picture just before they board the plane back to the states. It's those little things that got me invested in Alan's adventure as a reader and it is one I would highly recommend reading. What a ride. Alan certainly won't be hung up on dreams.

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Big in China: My Unlikely Adventure Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Reinventing Myself in Beijing Paperback – 15 February 2012

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About the author

Alan Paul

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