The Incorporation of Eric Chung - Hardcover

Lo, Steven C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0945575181 ISBN 13: 9780945575184

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 1989

Synopsis

Eric Chung, a Chinese student studying in Texas, finds his experience broadened by a number of jobs and rapid climb up the corporate ladder

About this title

About the Author

Similar to the narrator of his 1989 novel, Steven C. Lo moved to Lubbock, Texas, from his native Taiwan to pursue graduate studies in business and eventu­ally founded a consulting firm specializing in joint-ventures with China. Lo obtained a B.B.A. from the National University of Taiwan ( 1972), subsequently pursued graduate studies at Texas Technological University, and completed his M.S. at Northwestern University in 1974. Since 1979 Lo has represented major U.S. and Asian companies in negotiating, developing, executing, and managing a wide range of major business projects in China. The sardonic edge to his novel's fictional world appears in contrast with Lo's actual business achievements. His impressive track record in Sino-American business relations has made him a sought-after lecturer on the subject. He has served as visiting professor in a Shanghai university and is active in numerous Chinese and American business associations. Lo's interest in writing extends back to grade school and university years in Taiwan. He won prizes for his Chinese writing exercises and served as editor of class journals in the university. This early interest, coupled with a lack of confidence in English, prompted him to take up a creative writing course offered by a community college in Texas. Lo developed his skills by writing stories and poems in his spare time. Although The Incorporation of Eric Chung is his only major publication to date, Lo remains active as a writer and is a member of the Authors' Guild. Lo's wife is a Texas Tech graduate and, like him, an immigrant from Taiwan. They live in Texas with their three sons.

Reviews

YA-- A farcical, often droll novel about the immigrant experience. Eric Chung comes from China to Lubbock, Texas, to attend college and stays on in the U. S. Focusing largely on Eric's work experiences, especially his role in a company formed on the grand and delusional idea of doing business with China, this book sometimes suffers under the repetitive, stuffy atmosphere of the boardrooms it portrays, even as it mocks them. When one of Eric's Asian-American friends commits suicide because his job is terminated, the novel hits its lowest moment, signaling to Eric the sad absurdity of devoting one's life to work. Lo's story has obvious appeal for Chinese-Americans, aspiring M. B. A.s, and general readers as well. --Keddy Outlaw, Harris County Public Library, Houston
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In his engaginging debut, Lo adroitly interweaves two themes. The first examines what it's like to emigrate to the U.S. when one is young, Taiwanese and not very fluent in English. The second sharply satirizes life in the modern corporation, as seen from the bottom and middle rungs of the job ladder. In somewhat stilted prose (perhaps appropriate for a narrator to whom English is a second language), Eric Chung relates the circumstances of his astonishing success/failure in the business world. Having come to Texas Tech University to study computer science, Eric gets a job as a programmer/analyst for Taltex Electronics. His career languishes until he's picked up by Roger Holton, a fast-talking PR type who has conned Malcolm Coldwell, a nearly certifiable lunatic with tons of money, into financing a harebrained scheme to market in the U.S. small electronic products made in the People's Republic of China. The project founders after losing millions of dollars and derailing the careers of most of the company's employees. Eric ends up as corporation president, with no troops to lead except for his secretary. The problem for both the new immigrant and the corporate employee is the same one, Lo implies: how to establish and maintain your dignity in an alien and impersonal environment.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The first-person narrator of this slim volume promises no grand romance or drama, no heroes, "nothing evil, corrupt, or diabolic enough to make the blood boil." Instead he provides a modest but wryly comic account of his assimilation into American culture. After journeying from Taiwan to Texas Tech University, he and other Chinese graduate students tackle such mysteries as learning to drive, shopping for food by looking at photographs on packages, and mastering American small talk (mostly football scores). After a series of unusual jobs, he even becomes president of a high-tech firm, but his only duties are to fire all the other employees. Lo's story of coming to America is certainly less dramatic than the recent best seller The Joy Luck Club , but its quiet humor is appealing.
- Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0945575181
• ISBN 13: 9780945575184
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 199