Does a man need a stint in jail to complete his life experiences? When John T. Hung was writing his book “Master of None” from inside Stanley Prison, apart from the experience of imprisonment, he also recounted the many events and people that have affected his life. The most dramatic changes in Hong Kong took place from 1970 to the [...]
Thanks to everybody who came to our launch party in the Stanley Street cha chan tang last night. The owners were pleased as they sold 100+ bottles of cheap beer. Author Cecilie Gamst Berg has now made a movie to explain what you'll learn by reading the book!
Cantonese can be difficult, and people are often put off learning it. But Norwegian Cantonese teacher Cecilie Gamst Berg has hit on the best strategy: she avoids boring classrooms and teaches Cantonese in the places you will actually need it -- in shops, taxis and bars. OK, mostly in bars, but sometimes in cha chaan teng (local Chinese cafés) too. [...]
Thanks to the South China Morning Post for a great review of Chris Thrall's crystal meth memoir! A triad-controlled nightclub, of course, is not a clever place to work if you're addicted to a drug with a tendency to induce horrifying paranoia. A lot of bad stuff is going to happen and it's very easy for an Ice-addled mind to [...]
Chris Thrall's Eating Smoke, his memoir of a wild year spent in the gritty underbelly of Hong Kong -- a true story of drugs, crime and psychosis -- is now on the shelves of local bookshops! Chris Thrall left the Royal Marines to find his fortune in Hong Kong, but instead found himself homeless and hooked on crystal meth. Soon [...]
In the run-up to the 2011 Hong Kong Book Fair, which opens this week, Blacksmith Books is featured in a Hong Kong Trader story about publishing in Asia. Hong Kong has always been viewed by the publishing world as a place to print books rather than to have them published. That's changing due to shifting global focus on Asia. At [...]
Here we print an excerpt from Ken Ing’s Wing Chun Warrior — the biography of Duncan Leung, a kung fu master who studied under the famous Yip Man. Scroll to the end for cartoons which illustrate the story! Bruce Lee and I Beaten Hong Kong, 1958 Subdue the dragon, tame the tiger — Journey to the West Wu Cheng-en [...]
If you're free on the afternoon of Saturday 14th May, why not join us at Hong Kong's historic old police headquarters -- at 10 Hollywood Road, Central -- for a series of author talks about different aspects of Hong Kong culture. Entry is free, and signed books will be available. This mini book fair is part of a wider exhibition [...]
As an update to our earlier preview of Eating Smoke, Chris Thrall's memoir of a crazy year spent living on the edge in Hong Kong, Chris has now been interviewed by Time Out. So Chris, how much contact did you really have with the triads? I had contact with them every day. One of my fellow doormen was a 6’7” [...]
There's a full-page interview with extreme climber Alain Robert in today's China Daily. Asked why he's not afraid of the dangers posed by his unaided ascents, Alain explains his approach to life. "A lot of people are dreaming but they don't have the guts to make their dreams come true. At least I'm the one who did it. I'm not [...]
Hong Kong is a mixed bag of a city. It is where Mercedes cars outnumber taxi cabs, partygoers count down to Christmas every December 24, and larger-than-life billboards of fortune tellers and cram school tutors compete with breathtaking skylines. HONG KONG State of Mind is a collection of essays by a popular local blogger who zeroes in on the city’s [...]
Thanks to everyone who came to our book launch at Lotus! The crowd was bigger than we expected, so it was lucky we had an open-fronted venue which allowed people to spill onto the street. Kirsteen Zimmern was supposed to say a few words at 7:30, but it was past 9:00 before she was able to edge out [...]
You are invited to the launch of The Eurasian Face by Kirsteen Zimmern -- now available on Amazon US and Amazon UK! If you go to those sites, you can click to "look inside" the book. No one represents diversity better than Eurasians: those people with a mix of Caucasian and Asian heritage. Once a source of shame, the Eurasian [...]
As the weather cools, I'm pleased to announce the publication of The Heritage Hiker's Guide to Hong Kong -- available from all local bookshops from later this week, or directly from the website of FormAsia Books. When I began to write the book which became the first in this series – a walking guide to Hong Kong’s high peaks and [...]
Philip Chan Yan-kin, legendary Hong Kong movie actor, director, and producer, has said the following about Feng Chi-shun's Kowloon memoir Diamond Hill: It was with red, teary eyes and a pain in my stomach that I closed the last page of Feng Chi-shun’s flashback of his youthful days in and around the infamous Diamond Hill. For me, the place itself [...]
A letter from the heart, written by a father to his profoundly handicapped daughter You think you’ve got life sorted and then a child like Stevie comes along. But don’t think of Stevie as a tragedy. Don’t think of Stevie as a problem. Stevie was just a little girl. A gift to the world. A lot of bad things happened [...]
That was Caroline Chan's question to author Liza Chu and I on her Connect2 programme on Radio 3. And what personality issues are involved in the development of a book? Find out by listening in at the RTHK website.
From Liza Chu's new Dim Sum: A Survival Guide! Not all the dishes in the book can be called true dim sum, but you'll find them on the menu in dim sum restaurants nevertheless, and this little book shows you what's in them and how to order them. Click the pictures to enlarge.