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From Cotton Fields to Checkout Counters - Travels Through the New China and Into the New Global Economy
by Joe Bennett
One man's intrepid journey into Asia to discover why his underpants are so cheap
When Joe Bennett bought a six-pack of underwear in his local supermarket for five dollars, he wondered who on earth could be making any money, let alone profit, from the exchange. How many processes and middlemen are involved? Where and how is the underwear made? And who decides on the absorbent qualities of the gusset? Joe embarks on an odyssey to the new factory of the world, China, to trace his underwear back to their source.
Along the way he discovers the extraordinarily balanced and intricate web of contacts and exchanges that makes global trade possible-and is rapidly elevating China to the status of world economic superpower. He also grapples with chopsticks, challenges his own prejudices, and marvels at the contrasts in one of the world's oldest but fastest changing societies. Funny, wise, and insightful, Where Underpants Come From is a wonderful and timely picture of the developed world's dependence on China to make all the bits and pieces of our lives-everything from toothbrushes to overhead projectors and artificial kidneys.
"British travel writer Bennett informs and endears in his quixotic quest to trace the provenance of his underpants...[Bennett] sparkles with humor and sharp observations." - Publishers Weekly
"With a smattering of textbook history, he offers a dummy's tour of China. Some guffawing moments interspersed with somber reflections on economic growth, pollution and racism." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about Where Underpants Come From was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Joe Bennett was born in Brighton and since leaving Cambridge University has taught English in a variety of countries including Canada, Spain and New Zealand. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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