Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays

by Bill Holm

Arranged by letter of the alphabet, with at least one entry per letter, these short pieces capture the variety of daily life in contemporary China. Writing about traditions that endure in rural areas as well as the bureaucratic absurdities an American teacher and traveler experiences in the 1980s, Holm covers such topics as dumpling making, bound feet, Chinglish, night soil, and banking. In a new afterword to the second edition, Holm reacts to recent changes. "Holm's view is entertaining, thought-provoking and touching. After reading his book, you won't look at the United States or China the same way." — Philadelphia Inquirer

Genres: China, Travel, Essays, Nonfiction, Memoir, Asia

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Bill Holm was an American poet, essayist, memoirist, and musician.

Holm was born on a farm north of Minneota, Minnesota, the grandson of Icelandic immigrants. He attended Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota where he graduated in 1965. Later, he attended the University of Kansas.

Holm won a Fulbright and went to Iceland for a year, which stretched into longer. He continued to visit Iceland so regularly that his friends there helped him find a house in Hofsós. His last book, The Windows of Brimnes, is about his time in Iceland.

He was Professor Emeritus of English at Southwest Minnesota State University, where he taught classes on poetry and literature until his retirement in 2007. Though Minneota was his home, Holm had traveled the world, teaching English in China, spending summers in Iceland and late winters in Arizona, and visiting Europe and Madagascar.

Holm was a frequent guest on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion radio show and some of his poems were included in Keillor's Writer's Almanac.

Holm was a McKnight Distinguished Artist in 2008, an award that honors Minnesota artists for their life work.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book and came to love Bill Holm for his open heart and curiosity about humanity. My husband was in his class at Gustavus Adolphus College, so I have heard about him for years, but this is the first of his books that I have read. I'm sorry that he's gone. Because I recently read Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island" it was impossible not to draw lines between the two. Both books were love letters about countries in which each had spent time. Both authors occasionally ranted in frustration at the ways of these same countries, in their books and on site. Both bemoaned the loss of historical landmarks and their replacement with minimalist concrete structures. Both displayed a great talent for humor. Holm, however, dug deeper into culture, history, and politics, understandably given the differences between China and the U.S. Living among the Chinese as a teacher of English lent itself to greater introspection than travelling across Great Britain as a tourist (although Bryson had actually lived in England for 20 years). I was not bothered by the unconventional structure of Holm's book -- a series of essays about his experience in "alphabetical" rather than chronological order. It facilitated reading it in chunks without concern about keeping one's place in the narrative.

[Ensiform · Rating 4 out of 5]

he author is a Minnesota man who taught American literature in a small town, Xi’an, for a year. He’s a self-described Transcendentalist who admires the Whitman injunction: “resist much, obey little.” So his take on his Chinese experience is, of course, heavily shadowed by the Tiananmen massacre which occurred shortly after he finished the book. Holm’s writing is sharp; his acceptance of himself as a Barbarian and willingness to explore everything (he prefers to ride the in the crowded third-class train cars rather than the sleepers with bunks that foreigners are expected to ride, for example) make this a memoir not so much about how strange China is but how wonderful the variety of human experience is. The book is both humorous and touching, and gives a damn good definition of freedom along the way.

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seriously love Bill Holm. He's cranky and suspicious of technology, has lived most of his life in a small town in Minnesota, and spent a year in China willfully bending rules and having a heartbreak and uproariously good time. There's dirt, and noodles, and humor, and music, and it's just goddamn lovely.

[Dorinda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish, abandoned in early alphabet of essays. I may just not care that much about China through his eyes.

[Ben Jaques-Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent a little bit of time in China and reading this made me remember those times fondly. So thumbs up on that account. I got a bit tired of the writer’s self-important grumpiness, but he has a good sense of humor.

The book is told with the shadow of the Tiananmen Massacre looming over it. That makes it an interesting historical document knowing how China as developed since 1989. Then it seemed like China would be turning its back on the world again, but the opposite has happened. Reading this made me appreciate how surprising China’s growth has been.

[Bill Lively · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife and I were at a university in Xi'an about the same time at Bill Holm. His experience mirrors ours in many ways. This is a China that for the most part no longer exists. The upcoming booming economy changed China in so many ways. I am thankful we were able to see China before this change set the new course for China. The last time we visited and lived in China was 2000-2001. It was not the same place.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and want to read it again. I tried and tried to remember the name so I could recommend it, and it suddenly just came back to me! I read it over 15 years ago when my boss was planning a trip to China. The stories are short, fun and insightful. I’m curious to find out if I think any differently about any of the stories now.

[Donna Kubiak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book, but l.my only problem with the book is that parts of it are 20 years old. I can’t help but wonder what if anything has changed? The author is funny and I laughed out loud several times. I also learned a lot about China!

[Hester Furey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I did not enjoy the negative comments about China, I can see that Holm is a man of his time, and overall I did very much enjoy the collection of essays. I thought it was an original way to organize his memoir of China, and the details are superb.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried flipping through this, but it's pure self-congratulatory drivel. Don't waste your time.

[Jennifer Nisevich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this book. It was written by a Minnesotan who spent a year in China in the mid 1980s. It is that timing that makes the book so interesting. Just a few years after the Cultural Revolution ended, and well before the economic revolution began. The author wrote the book after returning to the US, and just after the Tiananmen Square incident. It was a time of great uncertainty about the future of China, and the author feared that event was the starting point of another chaotic and destructive era for the country.

The author spent his year living in Xi'an, the same city where I spent a couple of weeks in 2008. His impression of the city was of a depressing coal-dust covered concrete landscape filled with youth who were starving for knowledge and intellectual stimulation to help them forget or better understand the horrors of their past. My impression of the city 20 years later was of a shiny, vibrant, cultural and capitalistic Mecca, where modern technology and ancient heritage were equally valued. That probably gives the book special meaning to me, but everyone can appreciate the author's essays about a wide variety of subjects. This book is an examination of Americans and other westerners as much as of the Chinese.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended to Nancy and I by the Ambassador for Iceland. I had high hopes, because I really liked Bill Holm's Eccentric Islands. The premise here is that he spent one year teaching in China in the early 1980s, and wrote a variety of essays (one for each letter of the alphabet). This book would be a whole lot better if there were only 13 letters in our alphabet. The essays became redundant, and when I got to "T" I did something that I almost never do, I gave up on the book. It had become a chore to slog through the final essays. That being said, I did enjoy the essay on "Chinglish".

[Mike Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holm does a good job of describing the mundane or overlooked aspects of daily life while living in China. For anyone who has lived in China, outside of a top tier city, his anecdotes are relatable, but littered with an ignorance. Holm always tries to reconcile his misunderstandings or views through comparisons with US life or western culture. These comparisons are often far-fetched and romanticized or, predictably, referencing Holm's fascination with being a "Minneotan". In the modern China, there are traces of Holm's "experience", but otherwise the novel is becoming outdated. The lack of writing pertaining to the title of "coming home crazy" was disappointing.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend recommended this to me after my trip to Beijing, and I really enjoyed it. However, he writes of his experiences in China in the 1980's. I'm not sure if his descriptions are still accurate, although his feeling about the government there and in the U.S. are probably right on point. I really enjoyed learning about some of his travels across the countryside, and, like Bill, I appreciate the ways small and large that my life is easier. It was hard to track down this book due to its age, but well worth it.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting layout of alphabetical ideas and brought a flavor of what China really is while actually living and working there, rather than just as a tourist. It portrays China in both a good and bad light, but the author very uncharitably categorized American conservative ideals. This is still the best country in the world, although the author seemed to like China better. He is free to go there and stay if he likes.

[Sboysen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take it from someone living in China.....my eccentric fellow Minneotan has got it right. He wittily sheds light on this culture without offending. Though things have changed quite a lot since he shocked the Chinese with his literal and figurative enormous presence, many things are true still today. There's a reason for the term "developing country". I enjoyed his so much I read it twice. RIP Bill "box elder bug" Holm.

[Karen Lecy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave some great insights into China. The last updated publication was in 2000 so things have changed quite a bit I suspect. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading about Bill Holm's descriptions of what actually happens to the foreigner who lives "in country" and the many different ways he encounters those often spoken words "mei you" (not have).

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love first-hand experiences recounted through written words. This one hits close to home since I too came home crazy from China shortly after reading this simple, yet powerfully well constructed work.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An American ex-pat living in China tells hilarious stories about living as a foreigner in China and finding he's a foreigner in the US as well. This was one of my favorite books during Peace Corps -- he put so many of my thoughts and experiences into words.

[Jackee Haak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me after I returned home from a year in Iraq and was having trouble adjusting back to American Living. It gave me some great perspective on everything I was experiencing. Great read for anyone who has traveled.

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays about an English professor spending a year teaching in China. His rants are brilliant; his humor reminiscent of Bill Bryson; and his insights served me well on my trip over there.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't get this from my library and nor does the Aussie kindle store. If it is really good - let me know and I will try harder to get the latest edition that has an update on China. Any others to especially recommend?

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Holm is a wonderful writer and really makes the reader feel all the beauty and sadness of life in China.

[Gina Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's my China life. I can relate to it. It is now dated but not by too much. Some traditions don't die.

[Joyce Lionarons · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Icelander teaching English in China -- funny, moving, a real gem.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the kind of book i should write on china. or maybe not. he pretty much covers it all. hao ha ha le.

[Sami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holms is one of my favorite authors

[Harley Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first China book I read as I we were thinking about a Chinese adoption. It is a wonderful read and my intro to Bill Holm.

[Suellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story about living somewhere else.

[Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

English professor goes to China to teach for a year in a small technical college and falls in love with the people he meets and works with. Holm has a gift for wry, warm, poignant humor.