Name: I Stand Corrected
Price: 15.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Eden Collinsworth
ISBN: 9780804170468

“What do you mean, he’s asked how much I am?” asked a stunned Eden Collinsworth upon learning that a Chinese businessman had inquired if she were available for purchase. Despite this precarious introduction to China, no country has fascinated Collinsworth more during a career that has moved her around the world. Convinced that—despite the nation’s status as a world leader—the Chinese are still socially uncomfortable with their Western counterparts, she collaborated with a major Chinese publisher to produce a bestselling Western etiquette guide.
Now, in these pages, Collinsworth tells the unforgettable story of the year she spent living among the Chinese while writing a book featuring advice on such topics as the rules of the handshake, making sense of foreigners, and behavior that is considered universally rude. Informative, hilarious, and thought-provoking, I Stand Corrected is at once an entertaining memoir and essential reading for those looking to understand the mores of the rapidly changing—and increasingly important—nation that is China.

A fascinating fusion of memoir, manners, and cultural history from a successful businesswoman well versed in the unique challenges of working in contemporary China.

During the course of a career that has, quite literarily, moved her around the world, no country has fascinated Eden Collinsworth more than China, where she has borne witness to its profound transformation. After numerous experiences there that might best be called “unusual” by Western standards, she concluded that despite China’s growing status as a world economy, businessmen in mainland China were fundamentally uncomfortable in the company of their Western counterparts. This realization spawned an idea to work collaboratively with a major Chinese publisher on a Western etiquette guide, which went on to became a bestseller and prompted a branch of China’s Ministry of Education to suggest that she create a curriculum for the school system. In I Stand Corrected, Collinsworth tells the entertaining and insightful story of the year she spent living among the Chinese while writing a book featuring advice on such topics as the non-negotiable issue of personal hygiene, the rules of the handshake, and making sense of foreigners. Scrutinizing the kind of etiquette that has guided her own business career, one which has unfolded in predominately male company, Collinsworth creates a counterpart that explains Chinese practices and reveals much about our own Western culture. At the same time, I Stand Corrected is a wry but self-effacing reflection on the peripatetic career she led while single-handedly raising her son, and here she details the often madcap attempts to strike a balance that was right for them both.

“A heck of a story. . . . Entertaining, informative and insightful.” —The New York Times

“A must-read.” —Bloomberg Radio

“If Eden Collinsworth weren’t so good a writer, she’d do well with her own reality TV show. She has a fearless, go-anywhere, do-almost-anything attitude that—combined with her intelligence and keen observational powers—makes for exceptional storytelling.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Hilarious and insightful. . . . A compulsive page-turner. . . .An insider’s view into the rising power of the East.” —Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana and A World on Fire

“I Stand Corrected has many interesting, even important, things to say about commerce and manners in China, but the book’s real pleasure is Eden Collinsworth’s company. Her mind is lucid and original, and she’s very funny.” —Alec Wilkinson, author of The Ice Balloon

“There are very few like Eden Collinsworth who have actually known China, who have seen its transformation firsthand. With her wonderful book I Stand Corrected, she uses her knowledge and experience to build a bridge for readers to cross the river between cultures.” —Xinran, author of China Witness, Sky Burial, and The Good Women of China

“Eden Collinsworth’s adventures on her way to writing a best-selling manual of Western deportment for the Chinese are enchanting. . . . I Stand Corrected is an original, fearless, and funny book that you read for its laughs as well as its lessons.” —Joan Juliet Buck

“Enlightening, enthralling, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Her revealing and profoundly interesting insight into Chinese culture must be the first of its kind.” —Blythe Danner

“Wonderful. . . . A rare, true gift. . . . A traveler of the world, often with her multilingual son, Collinsworth waxes intelligently and humorously about other cultures.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Collinsworth’s observations bring the Chinese and their rituals and history to life … Entertaining, informative adventures of a woman determined to understand the people of China.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An entertaining take on life as a foreigner in China.” —Publishers Weekly

I Stand Corrected

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