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My Life as a Squint-Eyed Chink Hardcover – August 10, 2013

by Zak Keith (Author)

3.1 9 ratings

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The sudden death of Zak's mother leads to a reunion with siblings he has not seen in decades, culminating in a black comedy at the funeral. Having survived a messy and traumatic nonchildhood by being quintessentially headstrong and self-defining, Zak now finds himself revisiting a painful time and place in his life, retracing the steps to his own convoluted journey in life, unearthing a past he never knew he had. Some secrets are so compelling they refuse to lie buried in silence, but rise bodily from the grave to invade the present, shattering everything in the process. Unique insights into the human condition, fascinating vignettes from mid-20th-century China and uncommon sanity amidst maddening events characterize this poignant, thought-provoking and beautifully written tale of a Brit forced to adapt to finding himself "not looking English." (True story; includes 6 pages of pictures and 8 pages of endnotes)

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Lulu.com
Publication date

August 10, 2013
Dimensions

5.98 x 0.94 x 9.02 inches
ISBN-10

110565608X
ISBN-13

978-1105656088
See all details

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lulu.com (August 10, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 110565608X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1105656088
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.48 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.94 x 9.02 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #11,728,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #790,764 in Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3.1 9 ratings

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3.1 out of 5

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Moira French

An amazing story

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2010

Verified Purchase

I hate finishing a good book. Now begins the search for another one equally engaging, intriguing, informative and humorous. What I love about good books is that they introduce you to a world you never knew existed, or at very least know only peripherally. And you come away with many questions and so much richer from the experience. Books truly expand your horizons and this one expanded mine exponentially. I have lived in fourteen countries and traveled in 44, including Singapore, and yet this gave me insight I never had while I was there.

My biggest question is how can someone write so graphically, so lucidly, with such a terrific vocabulary, who never attended school? (And once you have read this book, there will be no doubt in your mind that this author didn't spend much time in school). When you put all the pieces together you realize this guy is probably as close to a genius as you are ever likely to meet. And a very humble genius, too. His ability to pull cogent thoughts from the deepest recesses of his heart and mind and turn them into a mouth-watering literary delicacy is quite astounding.

Who will particularly love this book? My guess is that in backpackers' haunts all over the world, a common question will be, "Read Squint-Eyed Chink yet? It's a good one."

And of course anyone who considers themselves to be western who is living their life inside an Asian body is going to nod their head on every page as Zak puts their experience into words.

But really, anyone who loves getting out of themselves and learning something new is going to laugh and cry and wonder reading this book. And the predominant feeling you'll be left with is that some people with great handicaps survive, thrive and find peace. The world is full of amazing people and Zak Keith is definitely one of them. I highly recommend this book.

3 people found this helpful

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SunniD1180

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2015

I enjoyed the book however I wished times the Author went Sorrento detail about his trials and tribulations instead of his father's past. I also would of enjoyed more specific details in to his mother's unknown past. But over all it was a very good read

4 people found this helpful

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Ka Chun Chu

Absolute hoax and fictional nonsense

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2016

This is obviously a self-published vanity—and also deliberately miscategorised—piece of fiction—and a highly improbable almost pure fiction too—rather than a genuine true autobiography. In real life, the man is an absolute Walter Mitty nobody. He is a Chinese (but who probably can't really speak Chinese) with a British passport but is living instead in Sweden. He is obviously also some kind of a loony far-left Trotskyist or Anarchist. Other than the Stockholm City Centre music scene, no-one has really heard of him outside of the Internet. The book is a self-promotional and otherwise bizarre fantasist hoax and "wind-up". The picture used on the front cover of the book is almost certainly not his; and he is certain not morally entitled to pass it off or to misrepresent it as if it were that of his own, on an autobiography.

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Martin Frank

An Extraordinary Ordinary Life

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2012

I give My Life as a Squint-eyed Chink five stars because I didn't stop reading until I had finished the book. "My Life as..." tells the life story of an international citizen with roots from Canada to Madagascar. The narrator is a man of around 50 years who after a cruel childhood became a success, lost all, put his life together again. He tells his life convincingly through the days of his mother's Singapore funeral. Zak Keith is a good observer and a good writer.

I am the same age and I believe I understand what Zak Keith is writing about. When you are too old to start a new life, you realize that your life was the one life you had (this time - I'm Buddhist). Zak Keith describes both his successes and his failures as a human being, as a musician, in business, and most of all as a father and husband.

I (but this may be just me) didn't like when he thanks people to "share" something with him... Isn't that cheezy? Mr Keith's writing about sexual abuse didn't work for me. His feelings are believable but on the page they become clichee. This are the two minor points which irritated me.

Overall this is a well-written autobiography, which I read without ever getting bored. It contains many worthwhile insights into the kind of humans we have become. There seem to be few authentic books about what your own life means to you when you are male and 50 years old - and not professor of creative writing and trivially unfaithful husband of your second wife.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

One of these books - when you start you cant stop.

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2016

This biography reveals a story which probably (hopefully) only few people have own references to. Not only did the story capture me, make me sad and give me a feeling of a really strong personality and psyke within the author. Alone the way the book is written and the language the author uses makes the book well worth reading,

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2015

Books like this exists? good job on having an offensive title in 2015.

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Alex L

A well-written auto-bio defying belief

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2009

A well-written auto-bio defying belief. At times sad, crazy, inspiring and with episodes that will give crazy fits of laughter... And Always very exciting!

4 people found this helpful

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