New memoir navigates rural China's social minefields

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Author Michael Levy poses for a picture in Songpan City in Sichuan Province, in this handout picture taken in July 2006.

Credit: Reuters/Dylan Madenski/Handout

By Chelsea Emery

NEW YORK | Thu Aug 4, 2011 4:40pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Galvanized by the September 11 attacks on the United States, Michael Levy joined the Peace Corps and found himself on a plane for central China.

His misconceptions about Chinese people, and his vegetarianism, fell by the wayside as he labored to learn the local dialect and stay open-minded when asked to try unusual foods such as millipedes.

Levy also struggled to navigate the region's tricky politics, which affected every aspect of life from singing contests to basketball games.

In the new memoir, "Kosher Chinese", he explores the lighter side of his years in Guiyang, such as eating dog and fighting his way onto crowded buses. On a more serious note, he examines disturbing stereotypes and some reasons behind China's patriotism and national pride.

Now a history teacher in Brooklyn, Levy spoke with Reuters about being the only Jewish person in the province, some embarrassing language mistakes and what he learned about his assumed Chinese name.

Q: Why did you name your book Kosher Chinese?

A: "Boy, was that a process. The title is trying to express all the strange juxtapositions that I experienced -- a tall white guy in western China ... a Jewish guy in a place where they've only met missionary Christians ...

"The place these conversations took place was the dinner table. And often (these discussions centered around) food. So the title is about bringing all that together."

Q: When you returned to the States, did you begin keeping Kosher again?

A: "I'm such a lapsed Jew. Food is such an important part of life and it's a journey. Right now, I'm in this state of flux. People get so freaked out by some of the stuff that is eaten in China, and to me it's not that big a deal."

Q: Except for a dog-meat incident -- didn't you have a fainting spell?

A: "Right now, I could say it doesn't faze me, and that is so horrible to my mom. She really gets uncomfortable when I say that. She has three dogs. I have a dog. I'm a dog lover. I guess I'm also a chicken lover or a pig lover. I love animals and I still eat them. I haven't figured out what I should do with my diet, but I really do think it matters."

Q: What other issues did you face in China?

A: "China was a real challenge as a Jew. Many of the most important Jewish prayers need 10 people, or 10 men if you're Orthodox. I was the only Jew in the province, so it was spiritually lonely. Coming back to the States I've been happy to be back in places where there is a Jewish community. And yet I'm still going to Chinese restaurants and eating pork ... I'm having an identity crisis."

Q: Your students took English names like Jennifer. Did you take a Chinese name?

A: "Levy pretty easily becomes Li in Chinese (and I thought,) 'I know a Li because I've studied a little Chinese history.' So, I said to my Chinese teacher, 'Would you name me Li Lisan?'

"I was very proud of that name. Finally I started to learn more about this person whose name I had adopted. And I learned that he was verboten. He was thrown out of the party. He was a radical. Chairman Mao hated him. And that was my name!

"It was like naming yourself Benedict Arnold in English. But everyone was forgiving. They were just happy that I was trying to immerse myself in Chinese culture."

A: Were there other funny language mix-ups?

Q: "I really wanted to learn the slang. I didn't learn perfect Mandarin. I learned the dialect. That made for great conversations with every type of person - 'Oh, you know the local dialect! That's so cool!' But I would screw it up sometimes.

"One time I was eating hot pot with a bunch of my friends and I tried to order meat balls. I took the word for 'meat' from one sentence that I knew and 'ball' from another sentence and put them together and created the slang for breasts.

"And, you know, that's a little awkward, especially when you're sitting around with colleagues and they're laughing and the waitress is running away red in the face."

(Reporting by Chelsea Emery; editing by Patricia Reaney)

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Pete Townshend says 2012 memoir a "rite of passage"

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Pete Townshend of British rock band 'The Who' performs during the halftime show for the NFL's Super Bowl XLIV football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Florida February 7, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Jeff Haynes

NEW YORK | Wed May 18, 2011 3:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A long-awaited memoir by British rock guitarist and the Who songwriter Pete Townshend will be finished and published by next year, book publisher Harper Collins said on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old musician, idolized since rising to prominence with The Who in the 1960s, said in a statement released by the book publisher the autobiography is "not a vanity for me. It is an essential rite of passage."

Townshend, who Rolling Stone magazine said has been writing a memoir since the 1990s, has forged a reputation not only as the main songwriter for one of Britain's most influential bands, but a rock commentator who has also published works of fiction and essays in the past.

"Rock 'n' Roll is a tough career, however cynically or comically it is portrayed by its detractors," Townshend said in the statement. "I am lucky to be alive and to have such a crazy story to tell, full of wild adventures and creative machinations. I am happy that I am able to write my book myself, in my own 'voice'."

Harper Collins, which said it has acquired the world English-language rights to the memoir, said in a news release the book would "at long last tell his dramatic story in a full and frank autobiography," and include the history of the band's roots to its rock opera "Tommy."

The publisher did not say if Townshend would address being cautioned by the British police in 2003 for accessing child pornography on the Internet.

At that time Townshend blamed the book, saying he was researching material for a childhood autobiography after believing he had been sexually abused between the ages of five and six and a half while in the care of his maternal grandmother.

In the statement issued Tuesday on Townshend said that while "I am not my favorite subject", he was looking forward to learning while finishing his writing.

"So the year ahead spent writing will also trigger the last vital bit of 'growing up' required by the now pensionable fellow who once wrote 'I hope I die before I get old'. I want to write a book that is enjoyable to read, but above all, I want it to be honest."

Last week it was announced that Townshend gave Roger Daltrey, the only other surviving members of The Who, his blessing to take the 1969 rock opera "Tommy" on a six-week North American tour beginning in September.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Pete Townshend of British rock band 'The Who' performs during the halftime show for the NFL's Super Bowl XLIV football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Florida February 7, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Jeff Haynes

NEW YORK | Wed May 18, 2011 3:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A long-awaited memoir by British rock guitarist and the Who songwriter Pete Townshend will be finished and published by next year, book publisher Harper Collins said on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old musician, idolized since rising to prominence with The Who in the 1960s, said in a statement released by the book publisher the autobiography is "not a vanity for me. It is an essential rite of passage."

Townshend, who Rolling Stone magazine said has been writing a memoir since the 1990s, has forged a reputation not only as the main songwriter for one of Britain's most influential bands, but a rock commentator who has also published works of fiction and essays in the past.

"Rock 'n' Roll is a tough career, however cynically or comically it is portrayed by its detractors," Townshend said in the statement. "I am lucky to be alive and to have such a crazy story to tell, full of wild adventures and creative machinations. I am happy that I am able to write my book myself, in my own 'voice'."

Harper Collins, which said it has acquired the world English-language rights to the memoir, said in a news release the book would "at long last tell his dramatic story in a full and frank autobiography," and include the history of the band's roots to its rock opera "Tommy."

The publisher did not say if Townshend would address being cautioned by the British police in 2003 for accessing child pornography on the Internet.

At that time Townshend blamed the book, saying he was researching material for a childhood autobiography after believing he had been sexually abused between the ages of five and six and a half while in the care of his maternal grandmother.

In the statement issued Tuesday on Townshend said that while "I am not my favorite subject", he was looking forward to learning while finishing his writing.

"So the year ahead spent writing will also trigger the last vital bit of 'growing up' required by the now pensionable fellow who once wrote 'I hope I die before I get old'. I want to write a book that is enjoyable to read, but above all, I want it to be honest."

Last week it was announced that Townshend gave Roger Daltrey, the only other surviving members of The Who, his blessing to take the 1969 rock opera "Tommy" on a six-week North American tour beginning in September.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Pete Townshend of British rock band 'The Who' performs during the halftime show for the NFL's Super Bowl XLIV football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts in Miami, Florida February 7, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Jeff Haynes

NEW YORK | Wed May 18, 2011 3:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A long-awaited memoir by British rock guitarist and the Who songwriter Pete Townshend will be finished and published by next year, book publisher Harper Collins said on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old musician, idolized since rising to prominence with The Who in the 1960s, said in a statement released by the book publisher the autobiography is "not a vanity for me. It is an essential rite of passage."

Townshend, who Rolling Stone magazine said has been writing a memoir since the 1990s, has forged a reputation not only as the main songwriter for one of Britain's most influential bands, but a rock commentator who has also published works of fiction and essays in the past.

"Rock 'n' Roll is a tough career, however cynically or comically it is portrayed by its detractors," Townshend said in the statement. "I am lucky to be alive and to have such a crazy story to tell, full of wild adventures and creative machinations. I am happy that I am able to write my book myself, in my own 'voice'."

Harper Collins, which said it has acquired the world English-language rights to the memoir, said in a news release the book would "at long last tell his dramatic story in a full and frank autobiography," and include the history of the band's roots to its rock opera "Tommy."

The publisher did not say if Townshend would address being cautioned by the British police in 2003 for accessing child pornography on the Internet.

At that time Townshend blamed the book, saying he was researching material for a childhood autobiography after believing he had been sexually abused between the ages of five and six and a half while in the care of his maternal grandmother.

In the statement issued Tuesday on Townshend said that while "I am not my favorite subject", he was looking forward to learning while finishing his writing.

"So the year ahead spent writing will also trigger the last vital bit of 'growing up' required by the now pensionable fellow who once wrote 'I hope I die before I get old'. I want to write a book that is enjoyable to read, but above all, I want it to be honest."

Last week it was announced that Townshend gave Roger Daltrey, the only other surviving members of The Who, his blessing to take the 1969 rock opera "Tommy" on a six-week North American tour beginning in September.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

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