Sara Bongiorni

This is an incredibly problematic piece of journalism. It came out at a time when "a year of" books were very prominent, but this one, while I think trying to be jaunty and fun, comes across as xenophobic. The author relies heavily on a conceit that I hope an editor urged her to make up about her one Chinese ancestor resurfacing periodically as single strands of black hair on she and her daughter's otherwise beautiful, blond heads.

Basically the family is going to boycott products made in China, not (as her mother asks) because of the deplorable conditions in many Chinese factories or the totalitarian government, but because of a vague unease with relying so heavily on a single trading partner. Yet even that seems thin, a palatable explanation for what reads like xenophobic racism. Would there be this much consternation if all cars were made in France? or all plastic children's toys made in England?

Also, this is so petty, but her now husband asked her to marry him after knowing each other two weeks.… (plus d'informations)

A tale of resisting the purchase of items made in China by a 4 person American family for one calendar year. Not terribly engaging. The author makes some very flexible rules for the project and then whines when people annoy her by following them. I was hoping for a discussion of the Chinese government's economic policies and their factory warehousing of young employees or, at the very least, some sense of personal defiance of society's values. What I got was a weak recounting of 365 days of deprivation to be followed, one assumes, by a relapse of former and "easier" buying habits. Not at all inspiring.… (plus d'informations)