＊ 本书收入包括知名作家彼得海斯勒（Peter Hessler）、艾伦保罗（Alan Paul）等28位作家的散文，除了海斯勒之外，每一章都是作者为这本书原创的，从未出版过！
＊ 东方早报报导：http://www.dfdaily.com/html/1170/2013/5/26/1004047.shtml
＊ http://yiduiread.blog.163.com/blog/static/2115170642014212112616638/
本书收入28篇原创散文，关于曾经住过或这目前住在中国的老外的经验。透过他们的故事，作者们描述出外国人如何看待中国，以及住在中国的待遇。他们在这里是个圈外人，但是他们却体验过真真实实的中国经验。
本书由作者以及摄影师Tom Carter编辑。Tom 曾经花两年背包中国，拜访了中国33个省的每一个省，走过35，000英里。他曾经被The World of China 杂志封为“中国最首席探索者”。他的第一本书China: Portrait of a People被称为由单位摄影师所创作的最广泛的现代中国摄影书。他自从2004年就住在中国。
本书的作者包括：
Alan Paul (author of Big in China) * Aminta Arrington (author of Home is a Roof Over a Pig) * Audra Ang (author of To the People Food is Heaven) * Bruce Humes (Shanghai Baby translator) * Dan Washburn (author of Par for China) * Deborah Fallows (author of Dreaming in Chinese) * Derek Sandhaus (author of Tales of Old Peking) * Dominic Stevenson (author of Monkey House Blues) * Graham Earnshaw (author of The Great Walk of China) * Jeff Fuchs (author of Ancient Tea Horse Road) * Jocelyn Eikenburg (blogger of Speaking of China) * Jonathan Campbell (author of Red Rock) * Jonathan Watts (author of When a Billion Chinese Jump) * Kaitlin Solimine (author of Empire of Glass) * Kay Bratt (author of Silent Tears) * Mark Kitto (author of China Cuckoo) * Matt Muller (blogger of Pathology of Wanderlust) * Matthew Polly (author of American Shaolin) * Michael Levy (author of Kosher Chinese) * Michael Meyer (author of Last Days of Old Beijing) * Nury Vittachi (author of The Curious Diary of Mr. Jam) * Pete Spurrier (author of The Serious Hiker's Guide to Hong Kong) * Peter Hessler (author of River Town) * Rudy Kong (author of Dragons, Donkeys, and Dust) * Simon Winchester (author of The River at the Center of the World) * Susan Conley (author of The Foremost Good Fortune) * Susie Gordon (author of Moon Beijing & Shanghai Handbook) * Tom Carter (author of CHINA: Portrait of a People).
书评：
"Great vignettes from world class writers...a celebration of the outsider's experience in China, in all of its juiciness and fetid rancour." --Time Out Shanghai
"Excellent. Concise and truthful." --South China Morning Post
"Although other anthologies have featured outstanding journalism about China by Western writers, Carter's collection is the first to focus on the wide-ranging experiences of foreigners living in China." --China Daily
"The authors, mostly experienced writers who have traveled widely in China, offer tales beyond those of the usual laowai experience." --Shanghai Daily
"The majority of stories are individual gems and an enjoyably diverse range of issues are found in the book." --Time Out Hong Kong
"The moral of this collection appears to be that though almost everything has changed, one basic thing - the allure of China to a certain kind of Westerner - remains curiously consistent." --Taipei Times
"Funny, poignant, and wry...the outcome is a depth and variety about the expat experience and life in China that is almost unsurpassed." --Asian Review of Books
"Fast-moving romps through a rapidly-changing changing society." --Caixin
"An eminently dip-into-able, informative and enjoyable collection." --That's Shanghai
"One might be tempted to classify it as a travel book of sorts; what is being traversed and recollected throughout is not the lay of the land, but rather, the contours of confusion, excitement and isolation that every China expat has, at one point, had to clamber across and conquer." --The Beijinger
"A surprisingly refreshing, instead of rehashing, collection of essays, written by professionals, instead of amateurs...at times hilarious, at times beautiful, but always relatable..." --China.Org
"(Editor) Tom Carter has pulled together an impressive cast of writers, established and amateur alike." --Beijing Cream
"If there is an overarching message to take from the book, it is that holy !@#$ China changes quickly." --Shanghaiist
"The vignettes lead the reader through a variety of emotions; some will tug at your heartstrings, others will leave you chuckling in understanding, and a few will really make you think." --Shanghai City Weekend
"Presents a more realistic China." --Li Jihong for Shanghai Review of Books
"As a Chinese writer with a certain cynicism, I did not expect to find anything truly surprising. But surprised I was, and my own stereotypical presumptions stand corrected." --Xujun Eberlein for Los Angeles Review of Books
"The result is a highly readable, often humorous, and at times brilliant book that is unerringly direct: the authors gathered together here do not shy away from troublesome issues." --Asian Correspondent
"The title dis-serves them...the range, humor and insights in this book place it among the best of its kind." --Asia Sentinel
“By turns funny, scary and insightful—every foreigner in China has a story, these are some of the best. Here we have the laowai experience in China in all its multifarious permutations. From the dedicated insiders to the seriously lost; from those who have sought to deep-dive China to those who’ve suffered glancing, but eye-opening, blows.” —Paul French, author, Midnight in Peking
- 苦涩的元素：老外闯中国的故事
- Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China
- 作者：Tom Carter
- 出版社代理人：Earnshaw Books （香港）
- 出版时间：2013年7月
- 页数：304页
- 已售版权：
- 版权联系人：tina@peonyliteraryagency.com
内容介绍