Apologies to My Censor: The High and Low Adventures of a Foreigner in China

by Mitch Moxley

Overview

Inspired by his article “Rent a White Guy,” published in The Atlantic, comes a chronicle of Moxley’s outrageous adventures in Beijing—from fake businessman to Chinese propagandist to low-budget music video star—as well as a young man’s search for identity in the most unexpected of places.

Mitch Moxley came to Beijing in the spring of 2007 to take a job as a writer and editor for China Daily, the country’s only English-language national newspaper. The Chinese economy was booming, the Olympics were on the horizon, and Beijing was being transformed into a world-class city overnight. Moxley planned to stay through the Olympics and then head back to Canada.

That was five years ago. In that time Moxley has fed a goat to a tiger, watched a bear ride a bicycle while wearing lingerie (he has witnesses), and has eaten scorpions and silkworms. He also appeared as one of Cosmopolitan’s 100 most eligible bachelors in China, acted in a state-funded Chinese movie, and was paid to pose as a fake businessman.

These experiences, and many more, are chronicled in Tall Rice, the comic adventures and misadventures of Moxley’s time in China and his transformation into his alter ego—Mi Gao, or Tall Rice. The books spans the five years that Moxley has lived in China; five years that coincide with China’s arrival on the world stage and its emergence as a global superpower. A funny and honest look at expat life, and the ways in which a country can touch and transform you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062124432
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/02/2013
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Mitch Moxley spent six years as a freelance writer in Beijing. He writes about culture, travel, and current affairs for publications including The Atlantic, the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and others. Mitch went to China in 2007 to work at the state-owned China Daily. 

Editorial Reviews

In this witty memoir, Moxley recounts his coming-of-age years in the strange, gritty, and wonderful environment that is 21st century China. Before arriving there in 2007, Moxley was restless, bored, and depressed about his career prospects. While searching an online job board, the young Canadian journalist came across a writer/editor position for the only English-language newspaper in the country. Planning to stay for only a year, Moxley dove into the intoxicating, high-octane environment of emerging China. Commerce was booming in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics and, although his new job wasn’t what he expected, Moxley reveled in the heavy drinking and rigorous nightlife typical of expats in China. He took Chinese lessons, established himself as a freelance writer, appeared on a Chinese dating show, and even became one of China’s “hottest bachelors,” as ranked by Cosmopolitan. While the country’s idiosyncrasies began to seduce Moxley, misgivings about his untethered life started to bubble up. “You stop noticing the unusual things around you—in fact, the unusual things are simply not unusual anymore. And then you’re left wondering: Why am I still here?” Moxley’s tale is a nostalgic travelogue; one purchase is never far from his mind: “A plane ticket. One way. To New York.” (July)

Publishers Weekly

This humorous memoir chronicles a man’s professional and personal emergence.” — Library Journal

“In this witty memoir, Moxley recounts his coming-of-age years in the strange, gritty, and wonderful environment that is 21st century China. . . . A nostalgic travelogue.” — Publishers Weekly

Though [Moxley] infuses Apologies with much insight and color commentary as to the cultural divides between East and West, it’s his own interior development that makes his memoir a success. — Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

Though [Moxley] infuses Apologies with much insight and color commentary as to the cultural divides between East and West, it’s his own interior development that makes his memoir a success.

Shelf Awareness

Canadian journalist Moxley's story of moving to Beijing to work for the government-run, English-language newspaper China Daily is by turns comic and poignant. He wrestles with his journalistic ideals as he writes and edits for the censored publication while the city gears up for the 2008 Summer Olympics. His tale involves his quest for living arrangements, getting around and getting to know the city, and figuring out how to make a life as a young, single, employed foreigner. As a Westerner, he is also recruited as an actor, and he is put in movies, on TV shows, and exhibited generally because of his background. He not only succeeds as an editor and writer but manages to makes many close friends (and girlfriends) there. VERDICT The book reflects a not-unusual journey toward becoming a self-sufficient adult, but Moxley does so in a vividly described foreign environment. This humorous memoir chronicles a man's professional and personal emergence.—Melinda Stivers Leach, Wondervu, CO

Library Journal