About the Book
Home is a Roof over a Pig is the story of one American family’s two-year encounter with China–and how it transforms them.
When Aminta Arrington moves from an army post in Georgia to a small town in China, she doesn’t go alone. Her army husband and three young children uproot themselves too. Aminta hopes to understand the country with its long civilization, ancient philosophy, and complex language. She is also determined that her daughter Grace, born in China, regain some of the culture she lost when the Arringtons brought her to America as a baby.
In the university town of Tai’an, a small city where pigs’ hooves are available at the local supermarket, donkeys share the road with cars, and the warm-hearted locals welcome this strange looking foreign family, the Arringtons settle in . . . but not at first. Aminta teaches at the university, not realizing she is countering the propaganda the students had memorized for years. Her creative, independent (and loud) American children chafe in their classrooms, the first rung in society’s effort to ensure conformity. The family is bewildered by the seemingly endless cultural differences they face, but they find their way.
With humor and unexpectedly moving moments, Aminta’s story is appealingly reminiscent of Reading Lolita in Tehran. It will rivet anyone who is thinking of adopting a child, or anyone who is already familiar with the experience. An everywoman with courage and acute cultural perspective, Aminta recounts this transformative quest with a freshness that will delight anyone looking for an original, accessible point of view on the new China.
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Reviews:
“Home Is a Roof Over a Pig is a brutally honest and fascinating peek at life for an American family living in a foreign country. I was engrossed in the story as Arrington used her humor, and ultimately understanding and flexibility to survive, realize, and eventually love the contradictory land of China.”
–Kay Bratt, bestselling author of Silent Tears: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage
“The power of Aminta Arrington’s Home Is a Roof Over a Pig is you can see both sides of the ‘China coin’ from it–something most people won’t get just by traveling through, or only by hearing about China in Western languages. Read it, it will help you dip into the real China.”
–Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
“American teacher Arrington (editor, Saving Grandmother’s Face) nicely demystifies the Chinese language for English speakers in this down-to-earth memoir chronicling her family’s stint in the Chinese province of Shandong on the eve of the Beijing Olympics.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Few authors are able to take us inside the daily lives of the Chinese people and turn a spotlight on both the shades of difference between our societies and, perhaps more surprising, the similarities…If you want to look through a window at the real China of today, this is the book to read.”
–American Booksellers Association (August 2012 Indie Next Pick)”
“Arrington is a sunny (“Cynicism and I cannot breathe the same air”) and energetic guide to today’s China – where Volvos glide among donkey carts and the Kitchen God coexists with Marxism. It is here that Arrington – while seeking out her daughter’s roots – also discovers ‘the person I was created to be.’” –Christian Science Monitor
“A military wife turned ESL instructor’s sharp-eyed account of how the adoption of a Chinese baby girl led to her family’s life-changing decision to live and work in rural China…Candid and heartfelt.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“A fresh, illuminating look at contemporary China.”
–Booklist
“A delightful tale of an American family trying to find the real China. Readers of travel literature and those interested in Chinese culture and history will find this an entertaining read.”
–Library Journal
“[Arrington's] chronicle of their adventures with the language and with the local culture and characters presents intimate glimpses of the profoundly different ideology and philosophy that underlie the quotidian Chinese experience–and of the essential human kindness that can transcend those differences.”
–National Geographic Traveler
“Home is a Roof Over a Pig is a compelling account…The depth of the author’s research is clear in her insightful analysis of China’s long past and its problematic relationship with the West, and in the exploration of the calligraphic formation and origins of Chinese words (the title itself is a reference to Chinese written depiction of the concept “Home”). The love of language is at the heart of the book, which beautifully unfolds as a compelling mixture of history, etymology and memoir.”–Asian Review of Books
“This book captivated me through vivid accounts of everyday life in China from an American’s viewpoint. The refreshing insights stirred an appreciation and fascination in me for the Chinese people and their culture. As we shape our cultural identity in the increasingly global context, Aminta Arrington inspires us to broaden our understanding.”–Yakima Herald
