Postcards from Tomorrow Square

Book Review 1
Author: James Fallows
By: David Hart

Introduction/Contribution to Knowledge

The latest book from James Fallows provides fascinating insights into China and its place in the modern world. Postcards from Tomorrow Square is a collection of essays that Fallows wrote while living in China. Fallows, a journalist with a history and economics background, writes in a riveting way as he covers fascinating Chinese topics such as its economy, culture, strengths and challenges. As the world moves further into the twenty-first century and becomes more interconnected, China’s influence will continue to expand. This book seeks to help others increase their understanding of various aspects of China. It also helps the United States to better understand how it will need to interact with China in what is already a dependent relationship.

Fallows writes primarily to Westerners who do not have an extensive background in Chinese issues. He writes to inform them of how vital it is for Americans to understand China and its social, economic, environmental, and political background. China will continue to expand its influence. Fallows discusses throughout the book the importance for Americans to gain a greater perspective of this vast country. He challenges some of the perceptions and preconceived notions that many people have about China. He writes from his personal experiences in China to help others better understand the Chinese point of view. This book review will discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of the book.

Strengths

James Fallows uses an effective writing style that conveys important concepts throughout the book. This section of the review will focus on five strengths of the Postcards from Tomorrow Square. This book is well organized, provides useful real life examples, exhibits simplicity, has a realistic yet hopeful tone, and provides useful advice.

Organization

James Fallows effectively organizes the book in a way that is easy to follow and understand. The book is essentially a collection of twelve essays that describe his experiences in China. The titles of each chapter effectively describe the contents of the chapters. They also engage the reader to want to read the chapter to find out what is written about a particular topic. For example, the chapter titled “The 1.4 Trillion Dollar Question” helps guide the reader in understanding China’s trade surplus and its effects on the U.S. and Chinese economies. Other titles such as “China Makes, the World Takes” gives the reader a reference topic to refer to when trying to understand the chapter.

In addition to having descriptive titles, Fallows also gives a good overview of the book in the introduction. After reading the introduction, readers know the direction the author is going to take. This is important because the book covers a variety of topics in a short amount of space. He jumps from one topic to another. The introduction helps the reader understand the order of the concepts that will be discussed in the book and what main ideas the author wants to convey. This overview helps preview the main ideas to help the reader see the big picture and see how the concepts all relate before he or she reads the book.

Real Life Examples

One of the main strengths of the book is the ability of the author to hold the attention of the reader. Fallows describes his themes in ways that use real world examples. Rather than relying only on theoretical concepts, he does a nice job of using interesting real life examples to make his points. For example, rather than just talking about pollution problems in China, he tells stories of people such as Zhang Yue who are looking for ways to implement more energy efficient ideas. He illustrates his points with stories that are both compelling and thought provoking. Another story he uses in the book to help readers understand the pollution problem is his description of the government trying to clean up Beijing for the Olympics in 2008 (p.13, 192).

An additional example of an effective story that Fallows uses to convey a complex topic is his description of the voyage of a dollar (p. 153). He shows how a dollar spent in America on a toothbrush that was manufactured in China ultimately ends up back in the U.S. He traces the dollar from the U.S. store to the factory that produced the product in China. The dollar then follows a pathway to the Chinese government that then likely invests it in U.S. Treasury notes. This example paints a clear picture for the reader to envision when looking at this concept.

The author also tells stories throughout entire chapters to make his point. One of the most interesting chapters in the book is about the city of Macau. Fallows effectively helps his audience understand the clash of values between those of the Chinese and the outside world. This chapter describes the history and the current state of this fascinating city.

These stories help readers better understand key concepts. They will be more likely to remember the concepts than if he had just described theories of how China works. The effective use of stories helps to keep readers engaged and interested. The real life examples help the readers connect better with the concepts he is trying to portray.

Simplicity

Another one of the strengths of this book is its success in reaching its audience. It is written in a way that most Americans can understand. His writing style is simple yet powerful. He conveys more challenging concepts in a way that people from all walks of life can relate. For example, Fallows notes that Americans benefit from U.S. companies manufacturing products in China. He describes this benefit by using what he calls the “smiley curve” (p. 95). He notes that America gains economic benefits from this model. America’s place in the smiley curve is at the two ends. These two ends contain the majority of the profits. The first end at the top of the curve is the branding and product concept. The trough is the manufacturing part that takes place in China, often in cities such as Shenzhen. After a product is manufactured, it comes back to America for the retail and servicing stages at the other end of the smiley curve. This simple yet powerful concept helps the reader understand the author's point that America benefits financially from this relationship with China.

Fallows also helps readers by giving them overviews of major ideas. For example, to better help the reader understand the culture of some of the major cities in China, Fallows describes what a visitor might expect to see in each city (p. 73). In Shenzhen, visitors may expect to see foreigners who are designers, engineers, or buyers. These foreigners are more “Midwestern-looking” (p. 73). He describes foreigners in Shanghai as more likely to wear suits. They are often financiers, lawyers, or consultants. In Beijing, there are more diplomats and academics. He describes their look as being less polished. By generalizing these areas by the way the foreigners dress and their occupations, readers get an overview of what drives the economies in these cities.

While the author helps readers understand key ideas with generalizations, he is careful not to paint Chinese society with a broad brush. In fact, one of the recurring themes in the book is that China is a complex and diverse society. For example, the author notes that “China, like America, is too big, complicated, and contradictory to have any typical or representative character” (p. 38). The author uses Mr. Zhang to show an example of someone who has great vision. Fallows notes that China’s economy, environment, politics, and culture are varied and multifaceted.

James Fallows effectively helps dispel any black and white notions. While the concepts in this book are simple to understand, China itself is not. He helps the reader understand that there are many shades of grey when trying to understand where China is today and where it will go in the future. He makes it clear that it is imperative for the United States to partner with China and to better understand them. This means understanding the concept that China is a complex society.

Realistic yet Hopeful Tone

An additional strength of the book is its focus on not only challenges in China, but also on the country’s strengths. Many westerners seem to only look at the negative aspects of China. While Fallows acknowledges there are major problems in China, he also emphasizes that people should also recognize the positives. For example, he notes in the book that despite bad working conditions and other major labor problems, many Chinese have been brought out of poverty in the last few years (p. 93).

He also says that there is much more opportunity for the Chinese now than even 10 or 20 years ago (p. 255-7). He notes that the outside world is correct in mentioning some of the country’s challenges. However, he also believes China’s realities include more than just defects. He argues that most people in China are optimistic about the future (p. 255). He believes China has great opportunities. By giving the reader an insider’s view, Fallows shows a more well-rounded perspective of the country.

Useful Advice

Fallows does a great job throughout the book of giving advice on what he believes America should do to deal with the increasing Chinese influence. For example, Fallows is a proponent of making it easier for foreigners such as the Chinese to work and study in America. He notes that if the U.S. can attract the brightest minds throughout the world, America will be more powerful and more respected (p.76). He believes that universities are “the crucial connector between the U.S. and China” (p. 211).

In addition, he notes that America can shore up its status as being the most powerful nation in three ways (pp. 139-41). First, as discussed above, it should make room for outsiders. Second, it should be idealistic but not “foolishly consistent.” Third, it should “display confidence, good humor, and thick-skinnedness" (p. 141).

By providing practical advice throughout the paper, Fallows helps readers see the connection between China and the United States. This facilitates an understanding of the importance of how China influences the world both now and in the future.

Weaknesses

One of the challenges this book has is that it covers a lot of material in a short amount of space. Some readers may prefer more depth to the topics. Readers who are already familiar with the concepts in the book may find it to not be academic enough for their tastes. The author tries to cover a great deal of material rather than going in depth on certain topics.

Although the book is well organized, perhaps the topics are too random for some readers. The author discusses events such as Chinese reality television to Macau to internet censorship. He speaks of politics, history, culture, economics and many other broad topics all in one book. While some may like this book as an overview of China, others who are looking for more in-depth information or analysis on a specific topic may want to look elsewhere. It is a good overview book, but other books may supplement this book by adding depth and detail.

The majority of the book was written before the effects of the recession began to hit the world's economy in 2008-2009. As a result, the effects of the recession on China are not discussed in this particular book. Someone looking for the very latest on the Chinese economy and how the recession has changed the country may want to find a more recent publication. Although this book does not have the very latest information, most of the information appears to be accurate and up to date.

Throughout the book, I did not notice any factual errors. However, I do wish he would have spent more time going into greater depth on the economic consequences of the Chinese policy of having one child. I have read reports in the past that suggest this policy will have an effect on the Chinese economy. This is a topic that I would like to learn about. It would have been interesting to have heard more about the author’s view on this subject.

Summary/Interpretations

Before I read this book, I had very little knowledge of China. I have traveled to several countries throughout the world, but I have never been to Asia. Although I have not studied much Asian history or culture, I have always had a desire to learn more about China and other Asian countries. Reading this book definitely piqued my interest in wanting to learn more about this emerging superpower. Learning about China is critical for those in the business world.

The author is effective in providing a collection of chapters that give an excellent overview of the country. For readers who do not have much background with China, this book provides a great introduction. It lays a foundation for a better understanding of this foreign land. It helps Americans understand which direction their own country needs to go in order to move into the future. China is going to continue to play an increasing role in shaping the world economy.

The author makes it clear that Americans need to find ways to understand and partner with China in making the future better for both countries as well as the rest of the world. Both countries will need to work together in forming economic, environmental, political, and social goals. China is changing quickly, and Fallows effectively helps his readers understand that China is going to continue to evolve and change as the world becomes more interconnected in the twenty-first century.