funny, insightful...great read
Matthew Polly's adventures in China make for a very fascinating book. I couldn't put this book down. He provides great insight on China in the early 90s, while at the same time weaving a humorous tale of a Westerner trying to survive in Asia. Anyone who has spent time in Asia can relate to Polly's observations...however, he does so with great wit and the keen insight only someone fluent in the language could provide.

not really kung fu, buddhism or burger king, but funny funny funny
Although this is a nonfiction memoir, it reads like a very funny novel. Beware of reading this in public, unless you don't mind laughing really hard and having people staring at you. (ie iron crotch monks, coke dealing, midnight mistresses, etc). Interestingly there were moments that were also very touching and could really bring a tear to person.

Despite this, the book gave some very fascinating, presumably accurate, first person account about China in the 90's, kungfu, and the most importantly the people there.

the writing was extraordinary and fluid. The author has a way of making you understand and feel emotions for the characters he describes, monks, vendor, evil administrators and yes the author himself, without boring you with deep analysis.

summary: funny read, sometimes sad, but mostly funny and informative and did I mentioned funny.

What You Could Not Know About New China
The tale is a very interesting one. A student midway through his studies at Princeton University captures some wanderlust and heads off essentially to parts unknown. This is a story of his journey. The author, Matthew Polly, heads to China in the mid-90s without any sense of exactly where he is headed; neither geographically nor personally.

He is intrigued by David Carradine's character of Caine in the TV series Kung Fu and decides to go and study at the legendary Shaolin Temple. After arriving, like so many things in life, the reality is much different than his idealized vision of what it would be like to study under the Shaolin monks.

If you have read Tom Friedman's The World Is Flat and felt that there was a lot more to learn about what was going on in the rest of the world, then I strongly suggest that you add this book to your reading list. The reality of China in the mid-90s is probably much different than what many Americans understand. American Shaolin, while telling the story of the author's physical and spiritual transformation, additionally serves as a very interesting period piece of China and its development or lack thereof at that time.

Particularly enlightening to me was the progression of the spiritual aspect of the monk's life. In the early stages of the monk's life in training, kung fu becomes the spiritual practice. Meditation seems like it is a practice of the older monks principally as they are unable to practice the martial arts.

The story does have moments where the story seems to be stretching the truth a bit. The single-mindedness and the focus on the goal serves as an excellent metaphor for so many different achievements one may seek in their life. Even if the author does take some literary freedoms, this book is one that you will remember and talk to your friends about.

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks and the Legend of Iron Crotch
This is a delightful book. I laughed out loud in a few spots. I loved the cultural information shared throughout the book. Can't wait to see the movie!

Great Read!
Entertaining and well written. I recommend it to anyone looking for either the courage or excuse to take their own adventure. Matthew Polly is the improbable explorer that exists in all of us. He does an excellent job of taking us along for the ride and making us feel we are there with him.