Search Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »
My library | Help | Advanced Book Search | Web History | Sign in

Books

Golden Boy:

Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
Front Cover
53 Reviews
St. Martin's Press, Nov 29, 2005 - Travel - 342 pages
At seven years old, Martin Booth found himself with all of Hong Kong at his feet. His father was posted there in 1952, and this memoir is his telling of that youth, a time when he had access to the corners of a colony normally closed to a “Gweilo,” a “pale fellow” like him.
His experiences were colorful and vast. Befriending rickshaw coolies and local stallholders, he learned Cantonese, sampled delicacies such as boiled water beetles and one-hundred-year-old eggs, and participated in vibrant festivals. He even entered the forbidden Kowloon Walled City, wandered into a secret lair of Triads, and visited an opium den.
From the plink-plonk man with his dancing monkey to the Queen of Kowloon (a crazed tramp who may have been a Romanov), Martin Booth saw it all---but his memoir illustrates the deeper challenges he faced in his warring parents: a broad-minded mother who embraced all things Chinese and a bigoted father who was enraged by his family’s interest in “going native.” 
Martin Booth’s compelling memoir, the last book he completed before dying, glows with infectious curiosity and humor and is an intimate representation of the now extinct time and place of his growing up.

What people are saying - Write a review

User ratings

5 stars
15
4 stars
24
3 stars
11
2 stars
1
1 star
0

Review: Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

User Review  - Bernard - Goodreads

Gweilo: A Memoir of a Hong Kong Childhood Review Martin Booth's Gweilo is honestly one of the best autobiographies anyone will read. This final book of his will be remembered as his greatest epitaph ... Read full review

Review: Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

User Review  - Alex Kwong - Goodreads

I happened upon this book when I was on vacation with my family in Hong Kong. My family and I had moved to the United States when I was little, and while I remember much about the city, I did not get ... Read full review

All 53 reviews »

Related books

Cannabis: A History
Cannabis: A History
Martin Booth
No preview available - 2005
A Very Private Gentleman: A Novel
A Very Private Gentleman: A Novel
Martin Booth
No preview available - 2004
The American
The American
Martin Booth
No preview available - 2010
All related books »

Other editions - View all

Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
Martin Booth
Limited preview - 2006
Gweilo: memories of a Hong Kong childhood
Gweilo: memories of a Hong Kong childhood
Martin Booth
Snippet view - 2004
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
Martin Booth
No preview available - 2005
View all »

References from web pages

Reviews for Golden boy : memories of a Hong Kong childhood ...
The title is:. Golden boy : memories of a Hong Kong childhood / Martin Booth. Reviews:. Top, Go back · Start over.
mcpl-websvr.co.midland.tx.us:8000/ kcweb/ kcContent?isbn=9780312348175& type=review& controlnumber=ocm58843308& referedby...

Southwest Public Libraries: New and Notable Fiction
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood, Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood Martin Booth The last work of the internationally known Booth, ...
www.spl.lib.oh.us/ greatreads/ newbooks.cfm?catcode=NONFBio& today=12& todayyr=2005

Macmillan Academic Marketing
Picador 352 pages Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/4 $14.00 Trade Paperback, Pub Year : 2006 ISBN-10: 0-312-42626-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-312-42626-2 ...
www.macmillanacademic.com/ Academic/ Book/ BookDisplay.asp?BookKey=4692565

Hong Kong Is Fantasy Land for a Young Adventurer - New York Times
Martin Booth describes his close encounters with typhoons, cobras, boiled beetles and an opium den in the 50's
www.nytimes.com/ 2005/ 12/ 21/ books/ 21grim.html

Barnes & Noble.com - Books: Golden Boy, by Martin Booth, Paperback
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood, Booth, Martin Booth, Paperback, Book, ISBN: 0312426267, Peoples & Cultures - Biography, Literary Biography, ...
search.barnesandnoble.com/ Golden-Boy/ Martin-Booth/ e/ 9780312426262/

noomanic's Shelf of hong kong Books - Shelfari
... favorite":false,"review":false,"wishlist":false},{"editionid":1945702,"bookid": 473560,"rating":0,"title":"Golden Boy: Memories...
www.shelfari.com/ noomanic/ tags/ hong%20kong

Martin Booth : Golden Boy: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood de ...
priceminister Compra Venta garantizada , Libro Golden Boy: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood nuevo y segunda mano al mejor precio.
www.priceminister.es/ offer/ buy/ 22338785/ Golden-Boy-Memories-Of-A-Hong-Kong-Childhood-Libro.html

angloinfo Hong Kong - Bookshop: Biography & Memoirs
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood. Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood Martin Booth ISBN: 0312426267 Sorry - no summary available. ...
hongkong.angloinfo.com/ bookshop/ default.asp?ID=11

【楽天市場】Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood：楽天 ...
Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood（Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong ... タイトル：Golden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood：GOLDEN BOY ...
item.rakuten.co.jp/ book/ 4786312/

Asia
-59%, 75, A Traveler's Guide to Chinese History ~ Madge Huntington Owl Books Madge Huntington. -55%, 87.79, Benares Seen from Within ~ Richard Lannoy John ...
www.myguidebee.com/ cat102302.html

About the author (2005)

Martin Booth wrote the nonfiction histories Cannabis and Opium and the novel Hiroshima Joe, among many other books. He began this memoir of his childhood after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002 and died shortly after completing the manuscript in 2004. An internationally known, Booker Prize--shortlisted novelist and writer, Booth was considered an authority on everything from the history of Chinese organized crime syndicates to the conservation of the African rhino. Opium: A History is regarded as the definitive book on the subject, and he is the author of eight other works of nonfiction, eleven novels, and five works of children’s fiction.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Golden Boy
TitleGolden Boy: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
AuthorMartin Booth
PublisherSt. Martin's Press, 2005
ISBN0312348177, 9780312348175
Length342 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
Travel / Asia / China
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan